Guardian Angel
by GuardianGirl91
Summary: The return of a feared enemy forces Jack to go undercover as a human to protect the Team. But, dealing with school, his social status, new friends, overprotective brothers and feelings he's never experienced before, he just may have bitten off more than he can chew this time. (OC/Jack Frost) Kind of a sequel to Backstory
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so I rewatched Rise of the Guardians online, and this little story popped into my head. Sorry if the characters seem a little OOC. It's my first time writing these characters and I might make mistakes. Still, hope you guys like it.**

**Oh, and in my story, Jack dies when he's 16.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or Rise of the Guardians (same goes for the chapters that follow)**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Skylar pulls the muffler tighter around her neck. She honestly doesn't think it could get worse, even when her body's completely covered, but her neck is freezing right now. And that's not all; she's lost all feeling in her nose and her face. For once, her face feels chilly. If this is how it's gonna be every winter, then she's not ever coming out.

"You cold?"

She looks up and glares at the smirking face of the twenty-three-year-old man. "This is your fault, Dick, you know that?"

He cocks an eyebrow. "Surprisingly, that's not the first time I've heard that." He says.

"Not that hard to believe." She mutters, just loud enough for him to hear. He grins and resumes that idiotic smirk on his face, making her roll her eyes.

"Dick, stop smirking or I'll do it for you." She mutters loud enough for him to head, rubbing her arms.

"Now, now, is that how you repay your brother?" he cheekily asks, shielding himself as she picks up a snowball and throws it at him.

"Seriously, Dick, I hate you." She mumbles as he dusts himself off.

"Love you too." He smiles, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side. He then leans forward and pulls her beanie a little more down. "You should cover up better, Sky. You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose."

"Yeah, right." She laughs, pulling it out of her face. "Keep saying that."

The two siblings walked on towards their favorite coffee shop, unaware that somebody was watching them.

* * *

He leaves behind a snowy trail as he quickly flies up the equator, to the North Pole.

Without thinking, the immortal teen bursts through the door into the wide room. "I got your message, guys. Sorry I'm late…"

"Yeah, yeah, 'nuff said." Bunny says. "We've got bigger problems."

"And, what might they be?" he slowly asks.

"Jack, the children need us." Tooth elaborates.

He shrugs. "Of course they need us. Why else would we be _Guardians_ if we didn't _guard_ them?"

"But this time its worse." Tooth says. He can hear the desperation in her voice. "Pitch is back."

"Pitch?" he almost spits out the name. "I thought we sent him off for good last year."

"But he's back, mate." Bunny says.

"And this time, he is going for teenagers." North says, coming up behind Jack and almost scaring the living daylights out of him.

"Teenagers?" Jack coughs.

"Not just any teenagers, mind you." North says, walking to the Globe. "Superheroes."

"Superheroes?" Jack repeats. "Why would Pitch wanna hurt them?" He looks at Sandy, who makes a bunch of images out of sand, very quickly. Shaking his head, Jack turns back to the other three.

"Superheroes protect the world, Jack." Tooth explains softly. "Not just from criminals. Ever heard of the Justice League?"

"Yeah, I was there when it was formed." Jack says.

"Then you must know of their covert ops team." Bunny says. "It consists of their sidekicks, some of the most powerful beings on this earth."

"So he takes them out…" Jack realizes, eyes widening.

"The world will be his to control." North confirms, and Jack can swear he can hear his heart fall to the bottom of his stomach.

"So, what can we do?" Jack asks, shaking it off.

"Actually, it's more what you can do, mate." Bunny says.

"Me?"

"Yes, Manny has offered you a chance to become human for this task." North says. "You will be posing as a normal student to protect these heroes."

Jack gulps. "Um, aren't they all, like, different ages, or something?"

"Most of them, yes," North continues, "but you will meet some wherever you go."

"So, whattaya say?" Bunny asks.

Jack takes a deep breath. "I'm in."

* * *

He takes a deep breath as he looks up at the huge building looming up in front of him. Being alive for over 300 years, he knows that this building is the doom of all mankind.

He stares at the name board: Keystone High.

He swings his bag over his shoulders and marches in, smiling at the other students as they pass by. He's actually never felt this way. Even though knowledge of Jack Frost is now global, he can't be seen by _everyone_. Now, the whole world can see him. Well, his human form at least. Looking in the mirror at his fake home brought back memories. His skin wasn't the pale off-white color he was used to seeing since he fell into that lake. It was now a normal tan, and his hair was back to its original brown. His eyes, however, remained blue. He had been talked into wearing something more than his original blue hoodie and brown pants.

He thinks about all these changes as he walks on. But then stumbles as he feels himself bump into someone.

"What? Oww!"

He looks down and sees his books lying on the floor mixed with someone else's. He looks up to give them a piece of his mind, but sees that it's a girl. He bends down, picking out his books from hers.

"I'm so sorry about that." He says. "I should be more careful."

"No, no, it was my fault." She insists. "I should start seeing where I'm going."

He picks up a book that's hers, sheepishly grins and gives it to her. "This…is yours." He grins. She takes it and stands up.

"Sorry about bumping into you." She says, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear.

"Doesn't matter." He quickly says. The bell then rings, saving him from further humiliation.

"I should get going. Don't wanna be late." She says, but he's not listening.

"But, I didn't get a chance to…" he turns his head and sees that she's gone. In fact, the whole corridor is almost empty except for him and a few other kids. "…ask your name."

* * *

She narrows her eyes as she watches Alex and some other guy talk. Normally, it wouldn't bother her at all, but this is the same guy who bumped into her at the start of school. What if…

She shakes her head, deciding that living with Dick put her in the same paranoia that he had. Waiting a bit longer, she feels her patience start to wane slightly. She gathers up the courage to go over to the two guys. "Hey, Alex." She says cheerfully.

"Hey, Sky, have you met Jack?" Alex asks, turning to her. "He's new."

She locks eyes with the new guy. "Yeah, we've met." She says.

"Wait, you have?" Alex asks, dumbfounded.

"We kind of bumped into each other." Jack shrugs. Then he holds out his hand. "Jack Overland. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly."

She looks at his hand for the fraction of a second before grasping it and shaking it. "Skylar Grayson. The pleasure's all mine."

"So, Alex here tells me you live with your brother." Jack says, withdrawing his hand.

"Yeah, finally moved in last year." She shoots Alex a look.

Jack opens his mouth to say something else, but then the bell rings, signaling the start of next period. "Tell you what," Alex says, all too cheerful, "Jack, why don't you join us for lunch?"

"Um, are you sure about that?" Jack asks, a little nervously.

"Of course, we're alright with it, aren't we, Skylar?" Alex looks at her.

"Of course we are." She smiles. "You should definitely join us."

* * *

She closes the door behind her, walking into the house to see Dick splayed out on the couch, eyes fixed upon the ceiling. It makes her laugh.

"Don't you have work?" she asks, trying to hold in her chuckles.

"Nope," he says, "I took the day off."

"Can you do that?" she asks.

He shrugs, barely moving. "My dad's the boss." They laugh as he sits up.

She drops her bag on the couch, walks over to him and hugs him. "Welcome home, _Vrabia_." He whispers. She smiles at the nickname. "So, how was school?"

"Not bad, actually." She says, sitting down. "We got a new student."

"Who?"

"This guy called Jack Overland." His eyes slightly widen at that. "What's wrong?"

"You aren't planning on doing anything with this guy, are you?" Dick asks, making her laugh. "Because when Tim was your age, he started dating the new girl at his school on her first day."

"I'm not." She assures him. "He's not that kind of guy anyway. Kind of dorky and idiotic, but okay."

"And how would you know that?"

"He ate lunch with us today."

Dick nods. "Okay, up and at 'em." He says, getting up. "We've got training to do at the Cave."

She takes his hand and he helps her to her feet. "By the way, I am not in the least way like Tim."

* * *

**A/N: Here's Chapter 1. Hope you like it guys^^**

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to fareyaWH for reviewing the last chapter.**

**These first few chapters are going to focus on Jack's building friendship with Alex and Skylar.**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

"You're getting better." Tim remarks, holding out his hand.

"Well, you're not the one on the ground now, are you?" Skylar retorts, taking his hand and pulling herself up.

"Man, you've been real sassy since winter arrived." Tim chuckles.

"Dick says it's the cold talking." She shrugs.

They laugh for a few moments. She hears footsteps behind her and turns her head to see Dick walking up with his eyes glued to his watch. "Okay, guys. You did some good practice today. Why don't you take a break?"

The two nod and walk over to the benches. "So, anything new?" she asks, trying to strike up a conversation. It wasn't like she was trying to prevent the moment from being awkward. She was very much comfortable with her brothers. As much as she loved Dick, she enjoyed Tim's company a lot.

He shakes his head, pressing a towel to his face. "Nothing much, just a new freelancer showing up in Gotham." He says.

"Is it a he or a she?" she asks, taking a drink from a water bottle.

"She." He says.

"She any good?" she asks.

"Actually not bad." He comments. "She's actually one of the people we rescued from the Reach four years ago. Her name's Stephanie Brown; goes by Spoiler out in the field." He turns to her. "How about you? Anything new in your 'average teenage life?'"

She almost chokes trying to hide her smile. He'd always pull this phrase when she'd least expect it. He always did make fun of her double life as a struggling high schooler living with her brother who was the ward of a billionaire and her life as Wonder Girl. Yep, average teenage life. "Nothing new." She grins. "Unless you call getting a new student 'new'."

"Only?" he asks. "Well, enough about personal issues, let's talk about Thanksgiving. It'll be your first as a member of the Wayne family."

"Yeah, I'm excited." She says. "I just can't _wait_ for it to come. Too bad it's two weeks away."

"Well, I can say personally that we're all looking forward to seeing you again. Or at least Alfred is, the rest of us get to see you pretty much every day." He says.

"That's true." She agrees.

"Anyway, good training." He says, packing up his duffel bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "Hopefully we'll have something exciting tomorrow. I'm getting tired of staying in this Cave."

"Never thought I'd say this, but me too." She says. "With our luck we'll get a mission tomorrow."

"Keep praying." He grins, pulling her into a quick hug before heading for the zeta tubes.

* * *

Alex pulls a face at the glob of casserole piled on his plate as he walks over to where he usually sits. He's so busy staring at the extremely unappetizing meal that he misses Skylar's eye roll. "Seriously, will you stop with the long face?" she grumbles.

He looks up, placing his plate and sliding down into a chair. "But have you ever eaten something so bad?" he complains.

"I've been here for a year, Alex." She says. "I know exactly how that tastes like. It's not that bad. But," she nonchalantly looks down, "if you wanna leave it and go hungry, well…"

"Okay," he huffs, "I'll eat it." He tries to ignore the obvious smirk on his best friend's face. She grins and takes a bite of her apple, looking around the high school lunchroom.

Ever since she walked through the doors the year before, she had been labeled. She hadn't taken everything that seriously, but it soon showed that separate high school cliques had their own tables. From where she was sitting, she could see a group of huge, buff, muscular guys in Varsity jackets along with girls who wore uniforms with skirts that were a little too short in her opinion (the popular group); jocks and queen bees. She looks over the tables, seeing skaters, choir group, instrumentalists, bands, matheletes, photographers, etc. She looks back down at their table, where she sat alone with Alex, joined occasionally by a person, but that happened very rarely. Alex used to sit with the popular group even though he wasn't a jock, but changed once he met Skylar. They were self-proclaimed loners, open to everybody and not afraid to stand up for anybody.

She blinks once and then sees Jack looking around the room aimlessly. Just as she's about to raise her hand, her eyes catch something about him. The newcomer seemed lost, _extremely_.

_Even I wasn't that lost, and I was raised on an island in the middle of the ocean…_

Alex turns around to see what she's staring at, then lifts his arm up and waves. "Jack! Over here!"

The brown haired boy looks at them and his face breaks into a relieved smile. He walks over to their table and places his plate of food on it, sliding into a chair. "Nice of you guys to invite me to eat with you today as well." He smiles.

"Dude, don't mention it." Alex says. "We don't mind at all, right Skylar?" he turns to her and she looks up from her food, smiling at Jack. "Of course, Jack. You're welcome to hang out with us anytime." She shrugs. "Anyway, like my brother always says, three is always better than two."

"Where do you think he got that idea from?" Alex grins.

"Probably Barbara." She replies. "Apparently, she, Bette and Artemis were a pretty formidable trio."

She notices Jack's small yet uncomfortable smile as the two heroes talk among themselves. "Dang it, if Alfred was here he'd kill me." She mentally kicks herself. "Where are my manners? Jack, you should tell us more about yourself."

"Yeah, what was your old school like?" Alex asks; glad to shift the topic of conversation.

"Well, I was…kind of…homeschooled." Jack says, not sure how to put it.

"That's great!" Alex says, happily. "Skylar was homeschooled too before she moved."

"Really?" he asks and she raises her eyebrow. The way he said it was off, like he didn't know kids got homeschooled these days. That guy was getting weirder and weirder.

"Yep, so you two can bond over that while we're here." Alex says.

She chuckles and stands up, picking up her plate. "I'm sure we will, Alex. But for now, I'll have to excuse myself since I have a plate to throw away." Saying so, she walks away. The two guys stare after her for a second before turning to each other.

"She does know how to make an impression, doesn't she?" Jack admires.

"Believe me, she does."

* * *

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Jack sent up a silent thank you to the Moon for ending this day. As a 300-something-year-old, he was finding modern study difficult. Hardly there for two days and he was already called out thrice by the teachers.

He was supposed to be the Guardian of Fun. But right now, he wasn't having any fun at all.

"Hey, Jack, wait up!"

He turns around, closing his locker. He looks slightly surprised at Alex who's running up to him. "Oh, hey, Alex. What's up?"

"Skylar and I are meeting up at her house later on." Alex explains. "Wanna join us?"

Jack's eyes widen. "Already? But it's been barely two days…"

"No buts!" Alex cut him off. "Skylar's brother got her that new videogame that's out in stores, and I'm just _dying_ to play it." His phone suddenly rings. Excusing himself, Alex goes a little way away, talking in hushed tones. A few minutes later, he puts the phone down, turns his head and smiles at the brown-haired boy. "So, see you there?"

Jack grins. "I'm there."

* * *

"Dude, will you calm down?" Alex hisses.

Jack's head snaps up in surprise. "I'm not sure about this, dude. I mean, she doesn't even know I'm coming. What if…?"

"Skylar won't do anything because she herself said that you were one of us now." Alex cuts in. "It'll be just fine."

He walks up to the door and rings the bell before stepping back. Within a few minutes, the door opens, revealing Skylar.

"Hey Alex, Dick's just gone out to get that game, but he'll be back any second…" it's then she notices Jack standing sheepishly behind Alex. "Oh hey, you brought Jack." She steps aside. "Why don't you guys come in?"

The two walk in and the first thing Jack sees is a huge golden dog running up to him. He watches as Alex bends down to pet the dog. Alex then turns around and gestures to him to come closer. As he bends down and pets the dog, Alex begins to explain. "This is Shiloh, Jack. She's Skylar's dog. I have a dog too. His name's Buddy. He's a little older than Shiloh…"

"Alex, would you quit yapping and let Jack come up already?" Skylar half-groans.

Grumbling, the redhead gets up and follows her into the kitchen where she's opening the fridge.

"Good thing Dick went grocery shopping yesterday." She says. "What do you guys want while we wait for him to get back?"

The two boys exchange looks before turning back to her. "Some juice will be fine." They both say at the same time. She grins before pulling out a carton of juice and three glasses, pouring out the juice quickly and handing each of them a glass. Suddenly, the door opens and a guy walks in with a package under his arm.

"Hey, Skylar, I got that game you and Alex wanted…" He looks up and sees Jack. "Oh, I see we have a newcomer."

Skylar walks over to him. "Dick, that's Jack." She looks at Jack. "Jack, this is my brother, Dick."

Now that he thinks of it, he does see the resemblance. They share the same eyes, bright blue. Even though hers are a lot more captivating…wait, what? He shakes it off and tries to focus. Okay, similarities? Jet-black hair, blue eyes, skin color, basically everything else. Now that he actually sees it, Skylar's more or less the younger, feminine version of her older brother. He then realizes that Dick is still staring at him, and almost cringes at the look he's sending him.

"Um, hi…" he awkwardly says.

Dick turns to Skylar, handing her the game. "Okay," he says, drawing it out, "I'm going to go and do some work. You kids be nice." Saying so, he gives Skylar a quick hug, nods at Alex, and his eyes linger for a moment too long on Jack.

He shuts the door, and Jack releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Skylar grins. "Don't worry, he has that effect on everybody." She assures him.

"Yep." Alex agrees. "He wouldn't stop staring me down when I first was introduced to him."

"So, this is normal?" Jack inquires.

Alex and Skylar look at each other before bursting into laughter. "Jack," she says, "you're part of our life now, and our life is anything but normal."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, sorry for the extreme delay guys, but I've just got the time to sit down and type this out due to a rush of inspiration.**

**Please tell me what you think of it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who commented on the last chapter^^ the reviews seriously made my day^^**

**And without further ado, here's chapter 3**

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Ever since she reunited with Dick, the nightmares seemed to be catching up.

It was like they were trying to make up for almost fourteen years of separation from her family, which she spent on an island filled with women warriors, who were also perfectionists. So, when she was there, she went to sleep every night too tired to even dream. When she'd come to the 'men's world', as Amazons tended to call it, she'd had her first taste of dreams. Although, not much since mostly they were good dreams and she still was tired out at the end of the day. But it was reconciling with Dick that really set it off, turning dreams into nightmares.

Kind of like the one she was having now…

She was watching a group of acrobats perform spectacular aerodynamics in the air like they were monkeys. Of course, she didn't have to guess who they were. The huge "We 3 Flying Graysons" poster in the crowd was enough to give her all the info she needed. Even then, looking at the performers faces gave out a big hint. For one, the red haired woman on the trapeze at the moment looked just like her, except with red hair. And on the ledge, stood a young boy who looked just like a younger version of Dick.

Just as the performance was reaching its grand finale, the already flimsy trapeze wires snapped, and all the performers fell.

Even though she knew it was a dream, it still felt so real. She could still hear the screams of the performers as they fell, hear the sickening crunch as they hit the ground, hear the sobbing of her brother and the shocked gasps of the crowd. She had to watch as the police tried to comfort the scared little boy as he cried for his family, and then realize something as rush. She was forced to watch as a group of masked men threatened Dick to stay back with a knife as one of them held a baby in his hands.

She wakes up clutching something tightly, her eyes blinded with tears.

She barely registers the person hugging her, or the soft whispers in her ear, but somehow they seemed to calm her down.

"Shhh, Sky. Don't worry, I'm here."

She opens her eyes to see Dick, hugging her, rubbing her back comfortingly as he tries to calm her down. He looks at her and the look in her eyes is enough to tell him everything. "You had that dream, didn't you?" he softly asks.

She wipes her eyes. "Dream? It was more like a nightmare."

He sighed. "I know. I got them for at least two years and _still_ every now and then I wake up after seeing my parents fall."

She cuddles up to him. "It was so real…" she softly says. He presses his lips to her head.

"Don't worry. I'm here now."

* * *

He's surprised how quickly time can go by.

Honestly, after making friends, his life seems to have gone by in a hurry. Of course, being alive for a VERY long time, he's actually got no real use of his life except to play pranks and freeze waterfalls. But now, he's looking at people who are trying to enjoy their life while they can, people who are worried about the future, and people who just don't care. He's got to the conclusion that his life will be a constant thrill ride and he won't have to worry about all that, but the same can't be said about Skylar and Alex.

"Alex, will you please put down the Science manual and just eat your food?" Skylar asks, exasperated.

"Come on!" Alex says. "My dad's going on about me about becoming a scientist like Wally and Uncle Barry."

She pries the book from his hands. "You can worry about that later." She says. "You're just fifteen, dude."

"Well," he tries to counter, "what about you? Didn't see you trying out anything new!"

She looks down. "Nothing really interests me." She admits.

Jack grins. "But aren't you worried that you're gonna grow old and die one day?" he asks.

She nods. "I am. But if I live my life, I wanna live it safely, so that I don't die sooner than I need to."

"But why would you think that?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Alex pipes up. "She…OW!" He turns to Skylar elbowing him in the ribs and giving him a death glare. Jack can say from personal experience that he knows where she gets that glare from. But he instead focuses on the movement she does, making Alex be quiet. It hurts, honestly.

"Oh," he says, crestfallen, "so I guess I'm not really one of you yet, huh?"

Skylar sighs. "Look, Jack, it's not like that…"

"Oh no, I get it." He says. "I guess I was pushing my luck too much. I was kidding myself when I thought I knew all about you guys in just a couple of weeks, but I see that's not the case."

"Dude, you gotta hear us out…" Alex tries to say, but Jack cuts him off.

"No, no, it's alright." He says, trying to smile. "There are still a few things you two aren't comfortable sharing with me. I just hope that you will be, one day." He sees Skylar and Alex sharing a look, more like Skylar was giving Alex a glare that clearly said "This is all your fault" before looking at him, opening her mouth, but he speaks again. "Um, I need to throw this away."

He gets up and walks over to the dustbin, but before he can throw his stuff away, he hears Skylar smack Alex upside the head and hiss "This is because of you, you know that!" at him. That makes him smile slightly.

* * *

He's putting his books away when he turns and sees Skylar walking up to him with an apologetic look on her face. He doesn't know why, but he forgives her almost instantly.

"I'm really sorry about what happened at lunch today…" she starts to say but he cuts her off.

"It's okay. No biggie." He smiles, trying to reassure her.

"But it _is_." She sounds so determined he finds himself believing her every word. "Look, when I first got here, I too felt left out when Alex wouldn't tell me everything. No one does. And I'm sorry, but there's just some things I'm not comfortable sharing with you right away, because these things involve my family, and such."

"Oh that's perfectly understandable." He says. "I'm sorry I caused such a fuss."

"You didn't, we did." She says. "We should've told you, but we can't."

He nods in understanding and opens his mouth to say more, but then the bell rings and students start shuffling their way to their respective classes. She says a hasty bye and walks on over to her own locker to grab her book and walk away. But before she leaves, she catches him staring at her, and smiles at him. He has no idea what to do except smile back and watch her fade away into the crowd.

He hears a noise behind him and sees Bunny standing there, looking at him with suspicious eyes.

"You really think she's one of 'em, mate?" he asks.

Jack nods. "Absolutely."

* * *

"So, you are coming over on Sunday, aren't you?" Tim asks her for the millionth time.

She rolls her eyes as she sidesteps a kick and goes under to try and swipe his legs out from under him. "Of course I am. I'm not missing that dinner for the world!"

He pulls out an impressive maneuver, which she blocks and pulls out one of her own. "Really? 'Cause this is your first time and all…"

"Tim! Seriously, I'm not five anymore!" she exclaims. To her annoyance, she hears Dick chuckling behind her, but forces herself to stay focused.

In a few moments that rush by, she finds herself on her back again, scowling at Tim as he helps her up. "Wow," he said, "you were in there for almost five minutes. That's a new record against a Bat!"

"Well, I do live with one and train with the others every day," she says, "It's getting much easier to read you guys now."

"Well, keep working on that." He gives her the usual hug before walking over to Cassie.

She grabs Dick and pulls him to the side. "I won't have to wear a dress, will I?" she hissed.

He grins. "'Don't worry, you don't have to. It's a family dinner, not a socialite party."

She heaves a sigh of relief. "Thanks." She says.

He smiles, knowing how much she despised wearing dresses. In all sense, she was more of a shirt and jeans kind of girl. And as her brother and a detective, he knew just what she's like and what she didn't. That was actually the main reason he hadn't invited her to any of Bruce's balls yet.

"Go ahead and hang out at the den." He smiles at her. "It'll do you good."

She nods and walks off, and he stands there, thinking about how his life would've turned out if he hadn't met her again.

* * *

"So, any plans for Thanksgiving?" Alex asks as he looks over the decorations.

Skylar, busy checking out the food, barely registered him enough to mutter "Hm."

"What're your plans for Thanksgiving?" Jack tries to help out.

"Oh, I'm going to my father's house in Gotham for Thanksgiving." She replies.

"Wait, your father lives in Gotham?" Jack asks, confused.

"My adoptive father." She clarifies. "Even though he's legally adopted me, I'm under Dick's custody."

"What does that mean?" Jack asks.

She shrugs. "I have no idea." She replies. "But I think it means that Dick's in charge of me." She breathes. "That's good, because Bruce does not go easy on you if you mess up."

"So, you're not gonna be here this weekend." Jack says slowly, as if it was sinking in.

She nods. "But don't worry; I'll be back on Monday."

"You better be." Alex mutters. "I am not attending your funeral if you get yourself ripped apart by some weird villain."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the small chapter, guys, but this was all I had to write. This has been sitting on my computer literally for weeks now! I promise, the next chapter might be longer.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this. Please review^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys^^**

**Honestly, what do you guys think of this story so far? I'd love for you guys to tell me^^**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

She's gathering up her books for first period when a noise makes her stop.

She closes the door to see Jack leaning against the locker slightly, a pleasant smile on his face. "Hey." She greets.

"Hey," he answers, "Sorry about the weird meeting. I just wanted to catch you before first period."

She smiles at that. "Well, thank you, Jack." She says, pulling out a last book before closing her locker and leaning against it with her arms folded. "So, anything special that you wanted to ask me?" she asks, almost taunting him.

"Um," she sees a flurry of emotions in his eyes, "Nope, that's about it." She smiles and starts to walk but he grabs her arm. "Oh, and Skylar?" She looks at him with a questioning look. "I've been thinking over the weekend, and I was hoping that you trust me."

"Of course I trust you, Jack." She assures him.

"No, I mean, really trust me." He corrects. "I've seen the trust between you and Alex. I hope that one day you'll trust me as much as you trust him."

She sighs. "Jack, I'm not going to promise you anything," she says, "because no matter what, some secrets just aren't meant to be shared." She manages to meet his eyes. "I hope you understand that most of those aren't my secrets to share."

He nods. "But whatever are mine, I promise I'll share them with you," she continues, "if I know that I can trust you enough."

He takes a deep breath. "Skylar, I can tell you right now that you can trust me, and that I trust you." She takes a moment to simply stare at him, but then shakes her head.

"Jack, your mouth is saying something, but your eyes convey a different message." She tells him. "All I can tell you is, slow down and take this thing one step at a time. Making new friends isn't easy, you know." Saying so, she turns and walks away, leaving him to mentally kick himself. He hits the back of his head against the locker as he sighs.

"You have no idea…"

* * *

She narrows her eyes as she stares at the screen as she reviews her essay.

The mission was pretty good, to say the least. They had to protect a shipment to Wayne Industries as there were people who would do anything to get some dangerous chemical and sell it for a thousand bucks on the Black Market. Honestly, it's a bit sickening to see the extent people would go for money. But, that also made them insane enough to try and fight them when they dropped down on top of the truck.

But what was surprising was that she remembered that she had an essay to finish just as she managed to throw a thug so hard he nearly ended up through the wall.

So, she actually took the opportunity when the Team was talking to one another to slip into Dick's room that not only had maximum security, but was also soundproof. So now she's lying on his bed on her stomach, looking at her laptop with _Big Time Rush_ blasting from the speakers and no one seems to know.

"Need a little help?"

She turns her head to see Dick shut the door behind him.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Sure you are."

He walks over to the main computer that was playing the songs. "You actually _like_ this stuff?"

"You actually have a copy of _my_ playlist on _your_ computer?"

He grins. "Don't deny you weren't happy."

She shrugs and goes back to scrolling down the screen. He turns the music down and walks over, sitting at the foot of the bed. She quickly finishes reviewing her homework and shuts the laptop down, closing it and getting up.

"So, why aren't you out there with everybody else?" she asks. He shrugs.

"I don't know." He admits. "I guess it got too sappy for me."

It takes a second for it to sink in when she bursts out laughing. "Sappy? For _you_?"

He sighs. "Just as hard as it may be to believe, _yes_."

"What is it this time?"

He runs a hand through his hair. "Just some dance at Jaime's college. Apparently anyone can come, not only students."

She nods, runs a finger over the sapphire beads of her bracelet. He notices and places a hand over hers. "It's actually one of the first dances of the season, so it's kind of a big deal." He tells her. "But, dances will be popping up all over the place now that it's close to Christmas. Missing one won't kill me."

She looks up at him, a bit surprised. "Tell you what, how about the two of us just get away that night." He suggests. "We hardly get to spend any time together, which is strange because we _live_ together."

She shakes her head. "Dick, as much as spending a night alone sounds amazing, I can't." she tells him. "Alex and Jack roped me into joining them for something."

"And what might that be?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

They rope her into going with them to a restaurant.

Seriously, what was she even thinking? She still can't believe she agreed to go to this place, because it isn't just a restaurant, it's a restaurant owned by Bruce Wayne.

"I hate you guys." She tells them.

Alex shrugs. "What's so bad?" he asks. "We get a free dinner because the owner's your dad, we have a nice dinner, and we all walk home together."

"Is that the whole reason you two invited me?" she accuses.

"Well, not totally." Jack sheepishly says. "Alex told me you'd also be paying for dinner."

She groans and runs a hand down her face. "I should've just said yes to Dick."

Jack looks up, thinking of a way to shoot her down, when he sees something. Well, _someone_. And it just so happened to be the one person they did not want to run into tonight. But, there's no mistaking the man standing there, closing the restaurant door behind him.

"Um, you mean Dick, like your brother?" he stammers.

"How many brothers do I have?" she growled. She looks up. "And what's with the question?"

"Because he's standing right there."

Jack points and both Alex and Skylar follow his follow. He sees their eyes widen and they both turn away. Skylar, for one, grabs a menu and tries to hide behind it. Alex puts his head down and stares intently at his plate. Jack looks up once again to see why they're acting to rash, when he notices Dick looking straight at him. _Crap_.

He tries to follow his friends' lead and put his head down, but there's no denying it. He saw them, and right now, he was coming straight for them. He looks straight down, staring at his glass of water like it was the most interesting thing in the world, but it becomes hard to concentrate when he feels a strong pat on his shoulder.

"Jack!" he hears Dick's voice, which was definitely forced out to sound happy. "I didn't expect to see you here." Jack lets out a sound that was somewhat a cross between a whimper and a sheepish laugh. "In fact…" Dick looks at the other two as well. "I didn't expect to see any of you here tonight. Hello, Alex."

The red-haired teenager raises his head and squeaks slightly. "And Skylar," Dick turns to her. "This is a surprise, isn't it? You blew me off because you wanted to hang with your friends, who bring you right to the place where we meet again. Now what would you call that?"

"Um, a coincidence?" Skylar says, her voice an octave higher than usual.

"Mm Hm." Dick nods, "Look, as much as I'd love to stay and chat with you three, I have to meet my date for this evening, so if you'll excuse me…" He turns around and holds his hand out to a woman with red hair, leading her to a table in clear view of them.

Skylar groans and holds her head. "I hate you guys." She tells them.

"Whew!" Alex sighed. "We got lucky tonight. Good thing your brother was on a date with…" He steals a quick look at Dick's companion and then turns back to his friends. "Who is she?"

"You still don't know, do you?" Skylar sighs. "That's Cheyenne Freemont, a fashion designer from New York."

"Well, your brother does have a good taste in women." Jack comments, also stealing a glance at the dress she was wearing, which was a short black dress with plenty of cleavage. He turns back and sees Skylar glaring at him. Then she takes a deep breath and puts her head in her hand propped up on her elbow.

"You okay?" Alex asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She says. "I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all."

"Nightmares?" Jack guesses.

"Very vivid ones." Skylar answers.

"Well, what could it mean?" Alex asks.

"I'm not sure." Skylar answers.

Jack however, was absolutely sure what it meant.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Jack?" North asks.

Jack stops pacing the length of the room and looks up into the old man's face. "Look, she said she hasn't been sleeping well." He says. "She's been having vivid nightmares; she's been tired all day, and definitely very irritable." He slams his staff onto the floor, creating a small sheet of ice where the staff met the floor. "She's obviously a target, and she's obviously a vigilante. Why else would he target her?"

"You know, she may not be a target." Tooth interjects. "She may just be one of those kids who are prone to nightmares because of a tragic event they've witnessed."

Jack shakes his head. "She's a target. Trust me on this one, guys." He looks around at the assembled Guardians. "She _is_ one of them."

"But you can't prove it, can you?" Bunny asks.

"Oh, I can prove it." Jack says. "I just need time."

"Well, _time_ is what we _don't_ have." Bunny says. "So you better get a move on, mate."

* * *

An orange tabby walks into the open, breathing in the night air. Then, it turns back as a faint voice is heard, calling its name.

"Teekl! Teekl!"

A young boy, barely out of his teens, walks into the clearing, and the cat jumps into his arms. "There you are!" he says. "What have you been doing?"

The cat then turns its head to the darkness near the trees and hisses. "What is it, Teekl? Is anyone there?" After a few moments the boy relaxes. "Teekl," he talks to the cat, "you shouldn't worry so much. There's nobody there…"

"Actually," a voice behind him says, "you should learn to trust your cat more."

The boy turns as a humanoid figure materializes out of the darkness. The boy hugs his cat closer. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The figure grins. "Relax, kid. I just wanna offer you a deal."

The boy relaxes, letting his cat go. "Go on."

The figure shakes its head. "Not like that." It says. "First you need to introduce yourself." He holds out his hand. "Who might you be?"

The boy looks at the outstretched hand for a minute before shaking it. "Klarion, Lord of Chaos."

The figure smiles. "Pleased to meet you, Klarion. You may call me Pitch, as in Pitch Black."

* * *

**A/N: Well? Now you guys have a clear idea who the villains in my little story are. Hope this helps spice things up.**

**Don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I have nothing to say. Just enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

The silence at the Cave was only cut by the computer's mechanical voice, voicing the commands and processes it was undertaking, punctuated only by the older male voice giving commands now and then.

"Anything interesting?"

"Might be." Dick says, not even turning to look at his two younger siblings who had joined him. "Dr. Fate has given me a tip saying that he's seen Klarion and his familiar Teekl near Yellowstone just a couple of days ago."

"But, why would he go there?" Skylar asks. "I mean, what's in it for him, right?"

"Exactly what I'm trying to figure out." The edges of his lips turned up in a small smile. "Keep your fingers crossed. You might be sent on a mission sooner or later."

"Finally!"

Dick smiles silently to himself as he hears the eager voices of his sister and brother fading away. Then, a feeling overtakes him, a feeling that he remembered all too well. It was that same feeling every time he saw one of his loved ones in a hospital. It was the same feeling he got whenever his options were limited and he had to make the hard choice and become all too much like Batman. It was the same feeling he got the night he lost his parents.

He remembered that night, all right. He had been absolutely terrified. So terrified, that he hadn't been able to move. He had been practically frozen with fear for a few moments just before the grief overtook and the horrible realization dawned on him. So, why was it that he was feeling that same fear now?

He turns around, but finds that he's alone.

* * *

It becomes hard to ignore the beeping of the phone as she tries to drown it out by pulling the covers over her head. Eventually, she just gives up and answers the phone.

"Took you long enough." Alex's voice says from the other end of the line.

"Alex! What's the meaning of this?" she groans.

"I just had to talk!" he says excitedly.

She looks over at the clock beside her bed which was reading 3:00. "It's 3 in the morning." She tells him. "Technically, my morning doesn't start till at least 7."

"Whatever!" Alex says. "You have got to get out of bed!"

"You're not ordering another goat, are you?" she carefully asks.

He indignantly huffs. "No!" he says. "I've learnt my lesson from last time I brought a goat into your house, don't worry." He assures her.

"Well, then what is it?" she asks, stifling an enormous yawn.

"It's snowing!" Alex exclaims. She looks at the window and sees it's true. "We have a snow day tomorrow!"

She smiles, tells him goodnight and puts the phone down. But right before she can go back to sleep, she thinks she sees a shape outside, but brushes the feeling off and goes back to sleep.

* * *

"Any luck?"

He looks up from his computer to see her standing there. "No." he sighs. "Whatever Klarion's up to, he covers his tracks really well."

"So, there's nothing we can do, is there?" she asks.

"Seems so, Sky." He says. "Hey, it's a snow day. Why aren't you out with your friends instead of being all cramped up in here with me?"

"Actually, about that…" She puts her arms behind her back and tries to look nonchalant.

"Wait!" He interrupts her. "Is this about Alex? Because if it is, then you are not bringing another goat inside the house, Skylar."

"It's not another goat, Dick." She assures him. "It's just that I promised to meet Alex and Jack at the coffee shop, _alone_." Somehow, he ends up focusing on the word "alone". "So, you don't mind if I go by myself, do you?"

He contemplates it for a couple of moments before nodding. "Have fun." He tells her.

She heaves a sigh of relief. "That's great! Thanks, Dick. You're the best." She throws her arms around him and kisses his cheek before grabbing her coat and rushing out the door. He waits for a while before turning back to his computer and hitting a few keys.

"Hello?"

"Tim, it's me. I need you to run a background test on someone. His name's Jack Overland."

* * *

"This is strictly a recon mission." Nightwing addresses them. "You are to infiltrate LexCorp's HQ, observe and report back." He eyes the three teens standing in front of him. "Any report on the _other_ case, contact base and get out of there at once."

"But, why?" she asks. "Wouldn't taking him out be better?"

"It would be." Robin tells her. "Except for the fact that once he was able to create two worlds out of this one, one with kids and one with adults."

"Wow." She says.

Their small conversation is interrupted by Dick's final command. "Robin, you'll be leading Alpha."

Tim jumps. "Me?" he asks. "But…"

"You'll do fine." Dick assures him. She herself puts a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down.

"Alright?" Dick says. "Move out."

As Skylar and Garfield turn to leave, Dick places a hand on Tim's shoulder. "Can we talk?" he asks.

"Sure." Tim says. "What about?"

"What did you find on that person we talked about earlier?" Dick asks.

Tim shrugs. "Surprisingly, not much. His records are really hazy and those are the ones that exist." He informs. "It's like he didn't exist for a very long time."

Dick folds his arms across his chest, thinking about it. "I knew there was something fishy about him."

"So, why the sudden interest in this guy?" Tim asks.

Dick sighs. "Because he's Skylar's good friend." He says. "I'm not very comfortable with him, and I wanna be sure that Skylar doesn't get hurt."

Now it was Tim's turn to fold his arms. "Is that Nightwing talking, or Dick Grayson?" he asks. "Because it just sounds like you're being overprotective." He looks back for a second to look at her. "You know she can handle herself, right? Even if this guy tried to hurt her, what's stopping her from pummeling and rearranging his facial structure?" Dick shrugged in agreement. "Dick, trust me. She'll be fine." Tim assures him before going off to join his other two teammates.

But Dick still could not shake the feeling that Jack's arrival meant something, something bad.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the short length of this chapter, guys. But this was all I could think of.**

**Hope you guys are enjoying it^^**

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains sickness, fluff and overall nothing!**

**Read at your own risk.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

Jack sneezes into the tissue, and flinches at the amount of mucus. Crumpling the paper up, he throws it into the waste bin in the corner of the room, which is already chock full of used tissues. He grabs another tissue and blows into it, groaning as he tosses it with its recent predecessor.

Sure he was still getting the hang of this whole "being human once again" thing, but he never thought it would come to this. He knew he shouldn't have drunk that ice cold smoothie that Alex made him drink a couple of days back. Now, instead of at school and doing his job, he's stuck in his house (or the house that the Moon had made appear out of thin air to help them) with a full-blown case of common cold. Honestly, he has no idea how humans manage this thing at all. He almost has to feel sorry for North, who had been playing his grandfather. The old man had gone out four times to buy tissues for his sick "grandson".

Just as he sneezes into another tissue, the door to his room opens and he almost jumps when he sees who it is. "Oh, cr-"

"Relax, it's only me." She grins.

_Exactly what I was afraid of_. Somehow, he only just realizes that he's in front of a girl in just his boxers. And not just any girl too, but it had to have been the one he was good friends with. "Hey, Skylar."

She rolls her eyes, shutting the door behind her. "Your grandfather let me up." She tells him.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"You didn't show up at school today." She says. "Figured I'd come by and visit you."

"Really?" He'd bet anything that he was smiling like an idiot now.

"Hey, what are friends for?" She shrugs.

He sits up slightly, but feels a sneeze coming on. Just in time, he manages to grab the nearest tissue, even though it was slightly used, sneeze into it, crumple it and toss it with the rest of the tissues. Groaning, he rubs a hand across his face, trying not to notice that he probably embarrassed himself big time, and in front of Skylar too. Sickness really had great timing.

She sits down at the edge of his bed. "Head cold, huh?" she asks him. He groggily nods. "Well, it's a good thing I decided to bring some of Alfred's soup." She hands him a bowl with chicken soup in it. "Trust me, it'll cure _anything_."

"Gee, thanks." He says gratefully, accepting the bowl and spoon. "So, you've had this before?"

"Don't even get me started." She says. "Last year, I actually was down with the flu. Luckily, I was at Bruce's manor in Gotham, and Alfred made me some of this very soup to help me."

"Did it work?" he asks.

"Well, considering I'm standing here in front of you, yes, it did." She says.

"_Sitting_." He corrects. When she looks at him in a curious way, he clarifies. "You're sitting here in front of me."

She laughs and he can't help but think about how nice it was hearing her laugh. He wonders whether that means something, but then realizes something. He just realized that she smelled like vanilla.

* * *

"So, how is he?" Alex asks, sitting down at the table with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

"He's doing fine." Skylar says. "He's just down with a cold. I gave him some of Alfred's soup, so he should be just fine."

She sleepily rubs her eyes, stifling a yawn.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "You sound exhausted."

"I'm fine, Alex." She tells him.

"Then why are your eyes so heavy with sleep?" he asks. He pulls back a little. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

"Of course I am." She says huffily, but stops when she sees his face. "I mean, not really. Fine, no, okay?"

He narrows his eyes. "Just what I was afraid of." He straightens up. "Maybe you should go home and get some rest, you know, sleep a little. It'll do you good."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine," she sighs, partly in defeat and partly in drowsiness. "Just, check on Jack, will you?"

He nods. "Don't worry. I will."

* * *

She's walking down the hallway at her school, reading a book when her eyes catch something. Well, a lot of things. In fact, there's a bunch of kids who couldn't have been older than nine or ten, and they were just wandering around the high school in a group. And right towards her too.

It takes her a second to realize that they're going for the snack bar, which is down the hallway where she's standing, and they're rushing, not even noticing her. They're barely up to her torso, but they're definitely fast and vicious. That's exactly what she thinks as they push past her and she loses her balance. She falls back, but stops midway as she feels someone else catch her from behind.

"Woah, careful there." Okay, so maybe she stiffened up a little hearing that voice. A face comes into her vision, and she has to say, he looks a lot better.

"Jack, hey." She says awkwardly. Only then does she notice the position they're in, and the imminent distance between their faces. The only good news is, he seems just as dumbfounded as she is, as though he was only just realizing the same thing she just had.

"Um…" He pulls her back to her feet and scoots away from her so that they're not inches from each other's faces anymore. "Sorry about that." He says, scratching the back of his neck.

"No, it's okay." She tells him. He hands her book back and she crosses her arms over her chest. "Well, I see someone's feeling better."

"Yup," he agrees, "that soup was amazing."

She shrugs, smiling. "I'll tell Alfred you said that." She looks around at all the kids swarming the school. "So, what're all these kids doing here?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" She shakes her head. "Well, today is a field trip to high school. Just so that these kids will know what to deal with when they enter through these gates."

She grins, rubbing her eyes. He notices and tilts his head slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I've been asked the same question five times today, and I'll give you the same answer I gave my brother: I'm fine." She tells him.

He backs up slightly, looking unsure. "Okay, I gotta go. See ya." He turns and waves to her as he walks down the hall.

Was it weird that she caught sight of him winking to a young boy with a mop of brown hair as he passed him? Probably not. But then again, he was the new kid, right? So how on earth could he know Jamie Bennett so well that he winked at him? She shakes her head, deciding that sleepless nights were really starting to turn her into Dick.

* * *

It takes her entire self-control to stifle that yawn as Dick finishes up the mission briefing.

She doesn't know what's going on, only that her eyes are starting to burn, she feels exhausted and she's ready to drop at any moment, which is saying something because it takes a lot to make her drop. So, why now? And all because of a few nightmares? Heck, if the Amazons could see her now, they'd have such a good laugh.

To counteract the burning, just as the Team members leave for the bio-ship, she sleepily rubs her eyes.

"Skylar,"

_Crap._

She opens her eyes to find none other than Dick standing in front of her. Only then does she realize that they are alone in the briefing room right then. But for one, his face does not look happy, so either she's messed up or he's worrying again.

"Maybe you should sit this one out,"

Yup, he's worrying again.

"Dick, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Don't deny it, Sky." He gives her a concerned look. "You haven't been sleeping very well, and I'm worried."

"You know you can't suspend me from the Team, Dick." She sighs.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't put you on a temporary mission ban." Her eyes widen in shock, but before she can say anything he cuts her off. "It's only for a few days, or whenever you start to feel better. And you don't have to sit out all missions; you're allowed on a few, and you'll be free once you're ready."

"And who's the judge of that?" she sarcastically asks.

"I'm still your brother, and your team leader, so I have some authority over you." He puts a hand on her shoulder. "You know I'm doing this because I love you, right?"

"I know," she sighs, "But couldn't you love me in another way other than cutting me off from missions?"

He grins, definitely getting the message. "Get some rest." He tells her before going off to the monitor room to check some stuff.

She indignantly folds her hands. "Rest? Huh, I'll get rest when I want to." She mutters.

However, when Dick checks in on her in her room, he finds her fast asleep. Smiling softly, he closes the door.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter guys, but hope you're all enjoying it. **

**The next chapter is where it all starts: Klarion and Pitch put their plan into motion, the Team hunt down Klarion, and Jack ends up in the middle of it all, and somehow Skylar too!**

**Please review**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Investigations continue in this chapter :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

"So, nothing else?"

The young woman looks at her boyfriend as she gets dressed for bed. "No, not much." She replies as she slips in beside him.

"Well, goodnight." He tells her, leaning over to turn off the light.

"Goodnight." She mumbles, eliciting a slight chuckle out of him as he switches the light off.

Everything goes tumbling down when the first scream is heard.

* * *

The screams are still being heard as the Commissioner waits on top of the hospital's rooftop. He checks his watch, sighs and looks back up, turning his head away from the ear-splitting shrieks coming from below. He stares into the night sky, slightly shifting on his toes, trying to keep warm. Winter wasn't very fun in Gotham.

"Commissioner Gordon?"

He jumps when he hears the voice behind him. He turns around to see the one and only Dark Knight, looking at him expectantly.

"Geez, Batman, you shouldn't do that." He groaned. "Some of us have bodies that are wearing down, you know."

"Why did you call me here?" Batman asks.

"The Commissioner pauses for a second. "Still going straight to the point, I see." He says. "Well, the girl won't stop screaming." He gestures to the ground, which was still ringing from her screams and cries. After a couple of minutes, Batman straightens up.

"Have you tried diagnosing for fear toxin?" he asks.

"We have, Batman." Commissioner Gordon says. "After last time, that was the first thing we checked, but there wasn't even a trace. And you know what the worst part was?" Batman raises his head slightly. "She was, and still is _fast asleep_."

* * *

"And she wouldn't stop screaming?" Skylar asks.

Dick shakes his head. "Not at all. Not even when we gave her the sedative."

She slightly leans back on the sofa. "So, what happened to her?"

Dick closes his eyes for a second. "She…she didn't make it through the night." He breathes. "Something happened to her last night, something bad."

"An assassination?" She suggests.

"I thought so too, but there were no marks on her." He tells her. "No slashes, no scratches, no traces of poison. The only thing we can say is that someone killed her in her dream."

Her eyes widen for a second. "Is that even possible?"

"In a world like this, anything is possible."

* * *

Klarion marches into a clearing in the middle of the forest, Teekl at his heels. Out of the shadows, a shape materializes out of the ground, taking the shape of Pitch Black. He steps out of the shadows and into the light.

"Well, I trust our little experiment was a success." He says.

Klarion grins and rubs his palms. "Oh, it went very well. The girl was so terrified of her night mares she actually slipped into a coma."

Pitch chuckled. "No, she didn't slip into a coma." He looks up. "The power of nightmares is very strong. It can make you believe what you fear. With your magic, I made it real."

"Real?" Klarion asks. At his feet, Teekl gives a cautious hiss. "You mean, she's actually dead?"

Pitch nods. "You don't have a problem with that, do you? Because we have a deal…"

Klarion cuts him off by laughing maniacally. "It's perfect! So chaotic, so…_me_." He looks at Pitch. "We are going to do more of this, aren't we?"

Pitch smiles. "Of course we are. We need to practice before I reveal my ultimate plan."

"So, are you going to tell me what your plan is?" Klarion asks.

"Patience, my friend, patience." Pitch tells him. "All will be revealed in time." He steps back into the darkness and sinks into the shadows.

* * *

In the library, Skylar continues to scribble down in her notebook when she senses the arrival of another. She wearily looks up and sees Alex, with an expectant look on his face.

"Well?" he asks, folding his hands across his chest.

She waits for a moment before asking, "Well?" back.

"What did Dick say about the case?" he asks. Unfortunately, he says it a little too loudly, and is hissed at by the librarian. Quickly muttering an apology, he pulls up a chair opposite to Skylar and turns it around, resting his chin on top of crossed arms on the back of the chair. She sighs and shuts her book and notebook, pushing it away from herself.

"She was twenty-two." She tells him, leaning over the table and speaking in a low voice.

"And she's…" he lets the sentence hang in the air.

Skylar nods. "The thing that's keeping this case going is that when she was brought to the hospital, she was having a bad dream." She explains, and then hesitates for a minute. "Wait a minute! Why are you asking me this? Why not anybody else, like Jaime or Bart?"

He sighs. "Come on, you have a direct line to the one who knows more about this case than anyone." He tells her. "If I'd ask anyone, I'd ask you." She raises an eyebrow at this, and he puts his hands up quickly in defense. "But that's not the only reason I'm friends with you." He quickly tells her and is shushed once again by the librarian.

She rolls her eyes at him before leaning over. "She was just twenty-two."

His eyes widen. "So young? And she's…"

She nods. "Apparently they say that when she died she was having a bad dream."

"So, she was assassinated her sleep?" he asks.

She once again nods. "The question is, how, and why?"

He spins a book towards him before opening it. "Any connections? Like did Dick or Bruce find any patterns?"

She shakes her head. "Not at all. This is only the first murder we've had that's like this."

"Murder?" he asks. "That's what you're calling it?"

"Hey, she was innocent." She protests. "She died for no reason. She wasn't in deep like us. She barely even knew what it was like being us. She had a nice life." She looks down; anger burning in her eyes as she remembers everything the Amazons taught her. "It was murder."

He hums in agreement before the sound of footsteps get their attention. The two look up and see Jack stepping into the library, greeting the librarian with a nod of the head. Alex puts a hand up, inviting Jack to join them.

"Oh, and Alex?" Skylar says, pulling her books towards her and opening them, resuming her earlier work. "Don't mention any of this to Jack."

* * *

She sits up in her bed to find herself in her room, where she'd always been. Putting a hand on her face she finds it drenched with sweat. Only then does it come to her attention that she's drenched with sweat.

Placing a hand on her heart, she finds it beating violently. She only remembers twice that her heart beat so violently; one time was when Dick had the Team do about thirty laps around the Cave and she was gasping for breath at the end of it, the other time was recently, when she was afraid.

Taking a deep breath, she tells herself it was only a dream.

And nope, her fear had nothing to do with watching her family die one by one.

* * *

"And you saw them die one by one?" Alex asks.

Skylar nods. "All of them. Bruce, Tim, Barbara, _Dick_."

He visually pulls back as he hears her brother's name. Biting his lip, he walks beside her, hoping that she'd say something, anything. Sadly, she doesn't, and instead seems more comfortable enjoying the silence during their walk home from school. He looks up, listening to the soft crunching of the snow beneath their feet.

The sounds of laughter draw their attention, and they see an impromptu snowball fight happening a little way away. Both of them share a quiet smile as they continue walking.

"Must be fun." Skylar murmurs.

"Hm?" Alex asks, looking at her.

She points to the little kids pelting each other with snowballs. "Must be fun to be a kid." She says, and he notices her looking at them with a dreamy expression.

He nods, smiling. "Oh, it's fun." He tells her. "Especially when the first snowball hits."

Just then, he's thrown forward by something cold. He feels his back and sees snow. Turning around, he sees Jack, standing there with a snowball in his hand. He balks at the sight of his friends staring him down. "Oh, sorry, guys." He says, waving to them.

Skylar waves back, but Alex bends down, scooping up some snow, packing it into a hard ball as he rises, and then flings it at Jack. Jack flinches as the snowball hits him, staining his winter jacket.

"That's what you get for throwing that snowball at me!" Alex yells out to him.

Smirking, Jack picks up two handfuls, throwing them at Alex, who suffers another beat down before arming himself with more ammo, and firing them at his opponent. In retaliation, Jack arms himself with more snow and shooting the other male.

All the while, Skylar laughs her head off to the side as she watches her friends go back and forth. Suddenly, she feels a snowball hit her, knocking her to the ground.

As she stands up, both boys balk at seeing who they hit.

"Great!" Alex groans. "You hit Skylar."

"No, that wasn't me." Jack protests.

"It wasn't me, either!" Alex says.

"I don't know about you but it wasn't me." Jack puts his hands up in defense.

"Yoo-hoo, boys!"

The two suddenly look up to see Skylar standing coolly, her brother's familiar smirk on her face. Only then do the two realize that she's casually throwing and catching a snowball and is armed with at least five. Then the two realize that they're dead.

Before the three of them know it, they're engaged in an impromptu snowball fight themselves. She smiles as she reminds herself that's it's her first, but that she's not going to lose to a bunch of buttheads like her best friends.

* * *

Dick raises an eyebrow when he arrives to see his sister half-drenched and removing her wet outer layers.

"What happened to you?" he asks her.

She shrugs. "Snowball fight with Alex and Jack." She says simply.

He grins at that. "Wow, your first snowball fight. Must have been an enjoyable experience." He states. "Wait, who won?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asks. "I did. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that Jack let me win."

"He let you win?" he repeats.

"Alex was too easy to take out of the game." She tells him. "Jack put up a fight, but lost very quickly. Which is funny because he's usually very good at fights like these."

"Oh, is he?" He asks, removing his gloves and placing them on the counter.

She nods. "He likes to joke to say that snow is his power." She grins.

He shares in her laugh and then notices that she's still wet. "Go and change out of those clothes." He tells her. "You'll catch cold."

"Fine!" she sighs, walking up the stairs. He stares after her for a moment, before picking up his phone and dialing a number.

"Yeah?"

"Tim, its Dick." He says. "Anything?"

"Actually, yes." Tim tells him over the line. "Apparently there is no Jackson Overland living here."

"You mean he's foreign?" Dick asks.

"No, it's like he didn't exist, not until a few weeks ago." Tim tells him.

"Right about the time he met Skylar." Dick mutters, half to himself.

"You'll keep an eye on her, won't you?" Tim asks.

"I will, Tim. Don't worry. Just keep searching. I want every Intel there is about this boy, so I have an excuse to question him and find out what he's going to do to my sister."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, longest chapter yet! Hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am.**

**Oh, and one more thing, I'm now taking prompts, so if there's something you'd like to see me write, especially in the YJ universe, shoot me a PM and I'll try and write it.**

**Please review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Nothing to say here. On with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

One of her biggest missions in life was to be a crime-fighter like Wonder Woman. Don't blame her for this, but she once wanted to be like Diana to the extent that she sort of took on her personality. Then another person came into her life; Dick. He had a totally different view on life. It took her some time to adjust, but she finally knew that life was too short, and that she had to think of something to do with it.

A whole year and she still doesn't know what to do with it.

She's shaken out of her thoughts as she hears the familiar barks of Buddy, who happens to be Alex's dog. She raises her head but is met with the sight of the familiar brown hair that's she's gotten to know so well.

"Jack? What're you doing here? And with Buddy too?"

He grins. "Well, Alex called me and told me that his family had a little emergency and if I'd be willing to take Buddy out for a little walk."

"Oh yeah." A family emergency; the excuse given by Alex to be off the hook for a quick recon mission of the utmost importance.

She raises her eyebrow at the way Jack was trying to control Buddy. "Have you even walked a dog before?" she asks.

"It's been a while." He admits. He jerks forward as Buddy runs forward and is pulled back by the extremely long leash.

"Well, you're not getting anywhere like that." She says, stepping forward, taking the leash from his hand. "You see, leaving the leash open like that gives the dog too much of a free reign, and that's not what Buddy's used to. So, keep it short, like this."

She steps back to reveal the short leash on his arm, and the quiet dog standing beside him. "Wow." He says, appreciatively. "Thanks so much."

"No problem." She smiles back at him, walking on ahead. "You coming?"

He grins at her. "Yeah."

* * *

The two make small talk, walking side by side towards the dog park. Once they arrive, Skylar removes the leash from her dog, letting her run over. She looks over at him. "You can let him go as well."

He looks down a little apprehensively. "You sure that's alright?"

"Of course it is." She assures him. "He's had a good walk, so now let him meet his friends." She straightens up. "How long has it been since you've dog sat?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "A while." He admits. _Like 300 years_.

She raises an eyebrow, but relaxes when he also sets Buddy free. While Buddy and Shiloh run around playing with the other dogs, she gravitates over to a bench and sits, beckoning Jack over to do the same thing, which he does, although a little slowly.

"You know I won't bite, right?" she amusedly asks him.

He nods. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

She turns back to keeping an eye on her dog, as he mentally kicks himself. _Say something!_ "Um, you saw the news, didn't you?" he asks.

She looks back at him. "Are you talking about the deaths?" she asks him.

He nods. "Yeah, I've seen them," she tells him. "Bruce called to actually make sure I was okay."

"And why would he do that?" Jack asks. "Doesn't he trust Dick?"

"Oh, he trusts him." She says, leaning against the back of the bench. "The only thing is, these murders are happening everywhere and he's feeling a bit protective."

"Yep," he sighs, "The cops seem dead with this case."

"They might as well be." She tells him. "I heard it's gotten so out of hand that they're involving the Justice League now."

"It's that serious?" he asks.

She nods. "It was serious before, because none of them want these things happening in their own cities, but now it's happening everywhere so they're getting together, or so I've heard."

He opens his mouth to say something, but then her phone rings. He slinks back, disappointed as she answers the call, and hangs up. "That was Dick." She tells him. "I have to get going."

At that moment, he felt something tugging at his heart, a feeling he was familiar with. Of course, he had been living with it for 300 years. Even though it had been a year since people had started believing in him and he became a Guardian, he still somehow felt it. It was only after he took on this mission and found friends in Skylar and Alex. Only then did he start to feel like a normal teenager. Anyway, despite all his age and stuff, he never really got to experience a normal life, and being around them made him feel human again. Honestly, he had no idea how he was going to handle becoming a spirit again after this mission was over.

But was all this simply just a mission? Jack, for one, didn't want it to be. For once, he wanted to be normal, without any of this murder stuff in the back of his mind, without any of the constant anticipation of Pitch's next move, without the trouble of guarding these kids. He wanted to go to high school, hang with his friends, get in trouble (or not, even he wasn't that stupid) and enjoy. He wanted moments like the last hour (already?), when it was just him and Skylar, alone together. Was that weird? Well, he was really out of touch, but he couldn't be bothered with labels. But the truth was, he really liked spending time with her, talking and getting to know her better. So that she would one day trust him enough to tell him her secret.

She was keeping something from him, he knew that. Okay, so maybe he suspected that she was one of the supers, or maybe she wasn't, but to him, she wasn't just another kid that needed protection. If she was who he thought she was, she wouldn't need protection at all.

For once, he was starting to question the point of this mission. What would happen once it was over? Would he be wiped off the face of the earth once more? Would his friends still be able to see him? Would _Skylar_ still be able to see him? Would this mission cost him her friendship?

"Jack?"

He shakes himself out of his thoughts to see her looking at him, Shiloh leashed beside her while Buddy waited beside him. "You were staring." She tells him.

"Was I? He asks. "Sorry. I didn't notice."

"I expect you didn't." she grins. "Well, I've gotta get going. See you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," he smiles, trying to hide the intense disappointment he felt.

They share a smile as she backs off, then turns around and walks off, leaving one seriously crushed immortal teenager behind.

* * *

She walks in on her older brother sitting in front of a computer, a pile of papers beside him and his head in his hands.

"Okay," she says, "head in hands. That's most probably the case, but since you have all those papers beside you, it could be Wayne Tech work, but since you're groaning, it's probably both."

He groans. "You're becoming quite the detective." He says distractedly. "Now let me go back to sleep, Alfred." He mumbles, nodding off, but she shakes him awake.

"Oh no, you don't!" she says. "Not today, you're not. Barbara called and said she needed your help at the Mountain."

He stifled a yawn. "Can't she ask tomorrow? I'm still working on this case, you know."

"I know," she says, "You've been up for almost a week on that, but this is urgent."

"What is it, Sky?" he asks, already half-asleep.

"They found a new body."

* * *

Jack leans against the back of the bench as he goes through some study material for a test he has tomorrow. To be honest, it wasn't like he wanted to study Chemistry, but he needed to get together and pull up his grade so that he wouldn't get in trouble.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a form flicker. Closing his book, he stretches his neck to catch a better glance at the thing when something flies into his face. After a brief struggle to gain his balance back, he turns to look at what hit him, and is met with the sight of a very overly happy half-human half-hummingbird fairy.

"Hey, Baby Tooth!" he exclaims. "What're you doing here?"

"Jack?"

He looks up to see Tooth, in all her queen-hummingbird-fairy glory, coming towards him. "Tooth, what're you doing here?" Okay, that was getting repetitive.

"I came to see how things were going on your end." She says. "I've been, for a while."

He instinctively gulps. Oh oh, Tooth probably knew about Skylar. Wait, what was there to know? He was doing investigations to find out who were the supers here, and to see what part they'd play in Pitch's ultimate plan. And if he had to, guard them. He was just doing his job, like he had been asked to. He would gladly answer any question not related to his newfound friends. But according to the look on her face, it was about his newfound friends.

"Tooth, what's up?"

"Jack, we believe you're getting too close to them." Tooth tells him.

"Too close? To whom?" he asks.

"You know, to that boy Alex, and that girl Skylar." She says. "Especially the girl."

He shrugs. "So? I found a few friends. What's so wrong in that?"

"Jack, you're getting emotionally attached to her." Tooth tries to explain. "This is not good."

He straightens up. "How is that not good?" he asks in a low voice.

"What do you think is going to happen once this mission is over?" she asks. "You're not going to be human forever, you know. And what if she doesn't believe in Jack Frost?"

"She can believe." He protests. "She's a believer, I just know it."

"Jack, you're letting emotions guide you all over again." She explains. "Even if she does believe in you, how do you think you'll feel to see her getting older and aging while you're still a teenager? How do you think you'll feel when she passes away of old age? You'll live forever, Jack. Are you prepared to see your friends die?"

Somehow, his fists end up clenched. "They don't have to die."

"They will, sometime or other." Tooth says. "If not now, maybe in 70 years. But their life will end, Jack. That is inevitable." She steps back and looks him up and down. "You don't even look like yourself anymore."

Of course he didn't. His hair was brown, not white! Plus, he was wearing something a little less ice themed today; a red jacket over a white sweater (it was cold, don't blame him) along with denim jeans and trainers. This was practically the polar opposite of what he wore for years. Heck, he went barefoot for over 300 years!

"You're changing." Tooth observes. "You're becoming like them."

He felt the anger fill up inside him again. "And what's wrong with that!" he almost yelled. "Look, I've spent near eternity just playing with kids who didn't know I existed. Even after last year, not everyone could see me, and I'll never have known what it was to be truly human once again. I feel alive, for once. And everyone can see me. Even then, I was almost invisible to everyone but two people, who took me under their wing. They saw me when everyone else didn't, Tooth!"

She simply stands and watches him rant. He looks down, breathing heavily. "I feel wanted, Tooth, and not just for some job or because someone decided that I needed to join some team." He says. "No one's going to take that away from me."

Saying so, he grabs his bag and books and walks away, trying not to imagine everything Tooth warned him happening.

* * *

He meets up with her at her locker between periods.

"Hey, Alex not back yet?" she asks him.

He shakes his head. "Nope, apparently he's not gonna be back till tomorrow." She nods, getting her books out of the locker and shutting it closed.

"Then you have to look after Buddy for another day, huh?" she asks.

He hums in agreement.

"Must be hectic." She softly commented. "Buddy's one hyperactive dog."

"Well, I'm a pretty hyperactive person myself, so that's no problem." He says.

She grins. "That, I believe."

As she turns to go to class, thoughts fill his head, all of them from the conversation he had with Tooth earlier. As much as he tried not to imagine it, he still did. One day, she wouldn't be pretty. One day, she'd have her own kids, who'd grow and have their own kids. She might be a great-grandmother. And the worst of all, one day, she might die. Just like the rest of them, one day, her life would wear out. He would be stuck in this state forever, watching them grow and eventually pass on.

Maybe Tooth was right. Maybe it was wrong to become emotionally attached to mortals. He was still considering his friendship with Jamie. Mortals were, well, _mortal_. They come and go, just like time. He would be stuck, helping kids, but watching time pass. How _would_ he handle it if his friends passed away one day? It probably would give him a bit too much heartache. Anyway, it would be impossible to have a lasting friendship with any of them, with him being a winter spirit and all.

"Hey Skylar!"

_Don't do it, Jack. Don't become emotionally vested in her. She's going to leave one day._

"I was wondering, since Alex is out, well, maybe, you'd like to hang out today?"

_Big mistake, Frost. BIG mistake!_

"Sure, Jack, that sounds like fun."

"Great! I'll see you later then?"

"Sure."

_Okay, Frost, now you've dug yourself into a hole you might never get out of._

He groans. "Should've just stuck to the snowballs."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying this story!**

**Please review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, this chapter might be a little off, but I've wanted to write something like this for a while now.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

Jack shuffles through the books on the shelf, searching for a specific one but not finding it. Grumbling under his breath, he moves onto another shelf where he proceeds to bend down and search the titles, muttering under his breath.

"Need something?"

He nearly loses his balance as he jumps. Turning around, he shoots a glare at Skylar, who was laughing at his plight.

"Hey, that's not funny, you know!"

"Actually, it is." She laughed.

Grumbling once again, he pulls himself up to his feet, shaking the dust off his clothes.

"So, what're you looking for, anyway?" she asks.

"Oh well, just something to help with my Math." He casually says.

"Well, then you're looking in the wrong section." She informs him.

"I am?" he stares at her with a dumbfounded look.

"Of course, the Math section is on the other side of the room." She points to the signboard hanging from the ceiling. Okay, _how_ did he miss that? "You didn't see it, did you?"

"Um, nope." He sheepishly says.

She shakes her head at him. "Well, I'll help you. I know my way around this place pretty well." She tells him, leading him through the maze of shelves.

"You do?" he asks.

She nods. "Yup, my first year here, I wasn't much of a social butterfly. I used to spend a lot of time here, and I've gotten to know this place very well." She turns to him. "If you need help with Math, maybe I could help out. I'm not the best, but I do have an A average."

"You could?" he can swear that he feels a bit too happy. "That'd be great!"

After a few minutes, Jack finds himself sitting down next to her at one of the tables in the library, his books next to hers along with a book she picked out for herself. Pushing her book away for the moment, she pulls the Math books closer to her and urges him closer as she bends down, scribbling down a particular sum. In that moment, Jack suddenly realized just how close they were from each other. Just how much he tried to focus, he simply couldn't, and ends up focusing on how she bit her lip when she was concentrating.

There were a lot of other things she did as well. At times, she would wet her lips, at other times she would go through a flurry of emotions. Also, he noticed just how every time she set herself to a task, a tiny crease would appear between her eyebrows…

"You're staring, you know that?"

He shakes himself out of his thoughts to see her looking at him. _Crap._ "I was? Well, I didn't notice."

"Yeah, I expect you didn't." she chuckled. "Now, back to the sum…"

* * *

As a funeral takes place in the cemetery, Nightwing observes from a tree. Well, he had been, for a while.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a man walk over to a young woman, who had been related to the recently deceased. Sending a silent thank you to Bruce once again, he uses the new features installed into his cowl to listen in on their conversation. Sometimes it paid to have a rich dad.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. I only just arrived." The man tells her, holding her close and letting her cry. _Okay, so he was her father._ "But do you mind telling me what exactly happened?"

After a few moments, the woman straightens up, still sniffling. "I have no idea." She admits. "All I know is, we were out for the evening when everyone in the diner fainted," her eyes start to tear up again, "and I changed into something terrible! I still remember it! I changed and killed him!" After that she relapses into sobs once again.

Up in the tree, Dick touched the comm link in his ear. "You get that, Babs?" he asks.

"I got it, alright." He hears her voice in his ear. "I've run it against the other claims. It's true. Apparently, everyone in that diner fainted and only awoke after his death."

He tightens his jaw. "Everyone around fainted and we have no idea whether the only one awake is telling the truth."

"What makes you think she wasn't?" Barbara asks.

"Well, she could have been hallucinating." Dick suggests. "Maybe she breathed in some kind of substance that made her hallucinate while someone killed her husband."

"Okay, wise guy," she says, sounding annoyed, "answer this: why would someone want to go after someone like him? Last I checked, he wasn't involved with anything. He was born and raised in New York, his family was clean of all records, and so was she. What motive could drive anyone to try and murder him?" Dick leans back against a branch. "Dick, I know criminals are insane, but even _they_ don't act without motive, not even the _Joker_, and he's the craziest one of them all."

"Okay, then what could have happened?" Dick asks. "Could she have been a meta? Maybe she lost control and accidently killed her husband?"

"That sure fits with her story." Barbara agrees. "But I've also checked her medical records. She's a normal human being."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I'll strike that off my list as well." He says. "Barbara, I'm running out of options. What could have happened that night?"

"Well, that's why we're here to find out, aren't we?"

* * *

"I still do _not_ approve." Dick grumbles under his breath.

At the mirror, Skylar gives an exasperated sigh before continuing to brush her hair. "There's nothing to approve, Dick." She tells him. "I'm just hanging out with Jack while Alex is not in town."

"And that is exactly why I don't." he crosses his arms over his chest as he leans against the door to her room. "You're too young to be dating."

Rolling her eyes, she turns around to look at him. "Oh, like you were always goody-two-shoes when _you_ were fifteen." She chastises him, then stops for a second. "Wait, what? Hold on a minute! It is _not_ a date!"

"Keep telling yourself that." He says.

"Dick, what's going on?" she asks after a moment. "You were never _this_ overprotective when I hung out with Alex."

"That's because Alex is different from Jack." He explains.

"Of course he is." She says, as if it were obvious. "They're both different."

"Also add the fact that Jack likes you." Dick drops the bomb on her.

She stares at him in shock for a second before laughing nervously. She straightens up. "Dick, what are you talking about?" she asks. "Jack does not like me. We're just good friends."

"Just because you're friends doesn't mean that he doesn't like you." He tells her.

"And how would you know that?" she asks, a little defensively.

"I've been in Jack's place more than once." He says. "Sky, I'm not stupid. I've seen the way he looks at you. Jack's nursing a secret crush on you."

"And that's bad because…?" she asks.

"Because I have a bad feeling about that kid." He says. "Look, all these murders started at right around the same time he suddenly showed up out of the blue. I don't know about you, but that's not a normal coincidence to me."

"Dick!" she groans. "You don't actually believe that Jack could be the killer, do you?"

He shakes his head. "I don't, but that kid is suspicious."

She shifts on her feet slightly, not liking where this conversation had gone. "Look, Sky, I have nothing against you making new friends and all, but all I'm saying is, just be a bit careful." He tells her.

She raises her eyebrows. "So, who was that talking, Dick Grayson or Nightwing?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest in a similar manner to his.

"It's a little of both." He smiles.

Checking the time in her watch, she sees that it's almost time for her to meet up with Jack. Giving herself one last check in the mirror, she turns back to her brother, who had simply been observing her last couple of actions, most probably with a not-so-happy thought process.

"Dick, you don't have to worry about me." She tells him. "I'm not Wonder Girl for nothing, you know."

"I know." He sighs. "But still, I worry. That part is inevitable."

"Then is there any way it could be evitable?" she grins.

The two share a small laugh before she walks over to the door. "Seriously, Dick, I'll be fine." She informs him before shutting it.

He takes a deep breath. "Yeah, like that will help with my nerves." He mumbles before going over to his room and resuming work.

* * *

He really enjoys spending time with her.

Okay, so he's not going to hide it anymore. He enjoys talking to her, or just simply walking beside her. The silence is always comfortable, and he really loves it. Even something like this, just taking a walk on a snowy winter night, feels somewhat, intimate.

Now that he thinks about it, the very idea of this whole thing feels too intimate to just be two friends hanging out together.

But friends do hang out together, right? That's what makes them friends in the first place.

But not like this, he tells himself. Not in this way. To anybody, they may just look like two friends sharing a quiet walk together, but there's a certain level of closeness that just feels unnatural. Or maybe the problem is that it feels _too_ natural. He tells himself that it's all in his head, but it doesn't feel like that at all.

Then he realizes that she hasn't spoken a word for a few minutes. Wait, does she suspect something?

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks.

It takes a second for her to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She turns to him and smile. "Yeah, I'm absolutely fine."

"You sure, because you seem a bit off tonight."

"I'm fine, Jack." She tells him. "I'm just…thinking about something Dick and I talked about before I left."

"About the murders?" he asks, praying that his guess was right.

"Yup." She grins. "You're a pretty good guesser."

He narrows his eyes slightly. "Why do I get the feeling that there's a lot more you and Dick talked about?"

"Oh, that's silly." She says. "He just has this crazy idea that we're on a date."

A date? Okay, that caught him off guard. "A date?"

"But don't worry, I assured him that it's not." She grins. Then she looks up at him. "Unless I was mistaken and it is."

Well, that shocks the life out of him. "Well, is it?" she asks him.

Honestly, he doesn't know. Does he want it to be more? This whole thing with her, does he really want it to be more? Is he ready to take that risk? He may be a few hundred years old, but that doesn't mean he's naïve. He's had his fair share of crushes over the years, and a lot more ever since he became immortal. He knows what it feels like to really like someone. The only thing is, they never saw him. Even before his death, wherever he went, he was invisible to girls, which sucked big time.

What was worse was when he died, and then had to see the girl he fancied become a woman, marry another man and have kids. Even worse, to see her grow old and eventually die. After her, he fell for a lot more women who were totally out of his league, not because they were insanely pretty, but because they could never see him. All those girls who he thought were nice, pretty, beautiful even, just growing up and eventually leaving so peacefully, while he was stuck watching them, even beginning to love them, and leave them. It was so heart-wrenching that it was cold.

He had eventually decided that the Moon was cruel in his own way.

And then, he met Skylar. One of the only two people who saw him when he was invisible, even though he was physically present to all mortals. Okay, he'd be lying if he said that she hadn't intrigued him. Even when he wasn't trying to figure out who she was or what she was hiding from him, just the simple thought of being with her, made him feel an unknown sensation inside. But could you blame him? She had a strong heart, was beautiful, and could take anybody on without batting an eye. Would you blame him if he had a little crush?

But lately, he's been wondering, is it just a crush? Could it be something more? And most of all, did she somehow reciprocate his feelings? Was there a chance for the two of them at all?

So, he just takes a tiny plunge. "Is it what you want it to be?" he asks.

"Is it what _you_ want?" she counters. Okay, she's better at this than he is. "Jack, tell me, did you want to ask me out?"

His eyes widen slightly. "Um, I…I…I'm not sure." He sheepishly admits. "I've never been good at talking about my feelings."

"Well, that makes two of us." She says. "Are we really ready to talk about whatever's going on between the two of us?"

"To be honest," he begins, "I'm not ready yet."

"Good, because I'm not either." She says. "So, instead of talking about stuff we're not ready to talk about, let's just enjoy the time we have before Alex comes back and we'll have to put up with him again."

Yup, he definitely likes her.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying reading this story. I'm certainly enjoying writing it.**

**Please leave your reviews.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys.**

**And to blackkyu: He has regained his memory. Like it said, he fancied a girl from before he died. I'll also probably give a small nod to his past life in an upcoming chapter.**

**Enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

"So, you having a good time?"

His voice snaps her out of her thoughts. She quickly shakes her head and looks back at him, bringing her hands out of her pockets. "Yeah, I am."

"Well, you haven't said a word in a few minutes." He points out.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just…just…thinking 'bout stuff, I guess." She sheepishly scratches the back of her neck.

"What stuff?" he questions.

"Oh, just…stuff." She says.

"Okay." She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

They walk in silence for another few minutes until they reach Lookout Point, the highest point that gave them a fantastic view of the snow-covered town. She leans against the railing, enjoying how the high altitude sent gentle chilling breezes their way. She then registers Jack coming and leaning as well, and when she looks at him, his eyes are fixed on the lights beneath them.

"I can see why you love this place." He tells her. "This is one beautiful place to be."

"I know." She says. "This town's always been beautiful, but it always looks better in the winter."

"Hmm." He hums in agreement, before turning to look at her.

"You're staring." She says, not taking her eyes off the horizon.

"Oh, am I?" he asks, backing up slightly. "Sorry."

She chuckles. "Don't be."

He re-adjusts himself, looking out onto the townscape as he takes a few deep breaths. The two of them stay that way for a while, just staring into space as they make small talk about things that don't really matter. But, whatever, it was fun, and she wasn't gonna deny it.

"This is nice." She says.

"It is, isn't it?" he agrees, a smile lighting up his whole face.

She turns to him to find that he had done the same, and now they were in a position where their faces were just inches apart. Hesitating for a while, she noticed that his eyes had been flitting between her eyes and lips for a few moments. Then, he did something that just chocked her to the core. He began to lean in.

"Um…" she says, just as his lips are extremely close to hers, and she can't deny how much her heart is pounding right now. "We…we can't. My brother…"

"…Isn't here." He completes. "Just relax. Let's have a little fun instead."

Surprisingly, that's the line that gets her over, and she closes her eyes, just waiting for it to happen. But then the most surprising thing happens: everything falls apart.

Seriously, the second that Jack was just a couple of centimeters away from her lips, he dissolves into vapor. When she scrambles back in fear, the entire environment also dissolves. In the midst of the confusion, she then hears a demonic voice come from somewhere.

"Interesting."

She whips around to see the vapor collecting to form a very humanoid shape, the shape of a tall, lean man. At first, she thinks that he scared her too much, but then she realizes that _he_ was causing this reaction in her. He was probably controlling this to bring out the fear in her. She couldn't make out any features, because all he was made of was smoke, but something told her that this man was more dangerous than he seemed.

"Ah, yes," he says, "You're an interesting one, for certain. You will be the perfect candidate. But for now, _wake up_."

She almost sucks in a gasp when she wakes up to Dick shaking her by her shoulders.

* * *

"Here, this will help."

She looks up wearily as Dick places a glass of warm milk in front of her. "I'm not thirsty." She tells him.

"But still, drink up." He tells her. "That's Alfred's special mix. It used to help me a lot when I had insomnia for a few weeks."

"I _do not_ have insomnia!" she protests.

"Well, you have something." He notes. "You have _not_ been sleeping well for a while."

She stays silent, reluctantly picking up the glass and downing it in one gulp.

"So, wanna talk about it?"

She looks up as she regards her brother. "Talk about what?"

"You were flailing like crazy in your sleep." He tells her. "You must have had one heck of a nightmare."

She sheepishly rubs her arm. "Yeah, I had." She mutters.

Dick checks the time on the clock. "2 AM." He says. "I better get back to bed. I have a lot of work in the morning." He gets up and moves to the door to his room. "You're free to come sleep with me if you like." He turns back to look at her. "Would you?"

She nods, managing a weak smile. "I'd like that." She softly says.

He smiles at her, going inside. She waits for a few moments as her eyes begin to feel heavy. Then she gets up and follows him inside.

* * *

Staring at the mirror, he decides that he never will be one of them.

Being in two worlds, now he's at a crossroads to where he truly belongs. He asked Alex this the other day, and all Alex told him was to see what made him happy. See what made him happy? Well, playing with the kids never fails to put a smile on his face. But then, so does spending time with his two new friends. Both things made him happy and that was what was bothering him.

He knew the golden rule of being a Guardian, don't get too attached to someone you can't afford to lose. He used to think this meant Jamie, but now he's wondering whether it meant Skylar and Alex. Alex had shown him the ropes of being a "dude", and Skylar had been a very good friend to him.

He looks back in the mirror at himself. Rich brown hair with ice blue eyes. The weirdest combination that could exist. It was as if both worlds were inside him, willing him to choose. Those two did not go well. He could either have brown hair and brown eyes or he could have white hair and blue eyes. That was the natural thing.

But was it what he really wanted? Did he want to become human again? But could he sacrifice his Guardian duties for that?

"Hey, yo, Jack! You still in there?"

Taking a deep breath, he tears himself away from his image in the mirror and he walk out of the boys' bathroom.

"You okay, dude?" Alex asks him, handing him his backpack. "You were in there for quite a while."

"Oh, I'm fine." Jack informs him. He turns around, looking through the crowd of kids piling out of classrooms and through the corridors. "Hey, Alex, have you seen Skylar today?"

Alex looks at him in confusion. "Uh, yeah. We met this morning when I got back. You're telling me you didn't see her today?"

"Not really." Jack sheepishly says. "I was actually pretty late for school. Just got in time or I would've had detention."

"Ah, the old 'I overslept' excuse, huh?" Alex chuckled.

Just as the two guys were coming down from their laughter fit, the bell rang signaling the start of the next period.

"Okay, dude, I gotta bolt." Alex tells him. "Just search for her after this period. Or you can wait until lunch." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "She's bound to be around somewhere. But just go a bit easy on her, okay?"

"Why?" Jack asks, confused.

"She's a bit off for some reason today." Alex informs. "Probably just a really bad nightmare."

Jack's eyes widen as Alex jogs away to get a good seat in his class.

_A really bad nightmare._

It was just as he feared. Pitch was targeting his friends now.

* * *

"SKYLAR!"

Her head snaps up as she comes out of whatever trance she was in at the moment. "Hm?"

"You were falling asleep." Alex tells her.

"Was I?" she groggily asks. "I didn't notice."

"I'll bet you didn't." Alex says, an edge to his voice. "Sky, how much sleep have you been getting?"

She looks at him. "What do you mean?" she asks, trying to keep her voice level.

"You have _never_ been _this_ exhausted before." He says. He lowers his voice as he leans in a bit. "Maybe you should take some time off from school."

"No way!" she protests. "Look, Dick's already stopped me from Team stuff. I'm not gonna bail on school too."

"I'm not asking you to bail." He says. "You're not made of steel, Skylar."

She grudgingly nods. "Alex, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not taking time off school."

He shrugs. "It's your decision." He says. "Hey, have you heard this song?"

"Which song?"

"This one." He leans forward and shows her the song's name and artist on his iPod. "It's pretty good."

"Victim of Love?" she reads out the title, an unsure tone to her voice.

"Just listen to it." He says, giving her one of his earphones and putting the other one in his ear. Before she can protest or say anything, he presses the play button and is immediately immersed in the music.

* * *

Alex was right; the song was pretty good.

The tune got stuck in her head and she found herself humming the tune all through the rest of the day. It wasn't the best remedy, but at least it kept her awake through the day. Even now, as she got her homework for the day out of her locker, she was softly singing to herself.

"I'm going outta my mind, I'm a victim of love, got me tied up in knots, someone please call the cops, said I can't walk away 'cause I can't get enough, I'm just a tied down, bruised up, victim of love…"

"You sing pretty well."

She almost screams but thankfully doesn't, as that would've been plenty embarrassing. However, she does jump and staggers, but luckily _he_ catches her. What makes her furious is that he still has the nerve to laugh as she shoots him a pretty good imitation of the Bat Glare, if she does say so herself.

"Never do that again, Jack." She growls.

He chuckles slightly but simmers down after she throws him a death glare. "Sorry." He quickly says. "So, where have you been today?"

"Oh, just trying to concentrate on schoolwork." She tells him.

"Oh." He says, and she thinks that she sounds slightly disappointed. "But, about last night…"

"I had fun, Jack." She tells him. "It was nice, and a chance for us to get to know each other better."

"I enjoyed too." He agrees. "But I had a question."

"Shoot."

"Did you, by any chance, feel something…more…last night?" he cautiously asks.

She looks up at him, taken by surprise. "More? What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, something a little intimate?" he offers, the confidence in his voice dropping lower than usual.

Something intimate? Oh, she had definitely felt it last night. Despite the fact that they had agreed that they were just friends, there was an underlying emotion that neither of them were ready to access. But nevertheless, it couldn't be denied. It was there, so why deny it?

"Yeah, I felt it." She says, looking down.

"So, what does this mean?" he asks. "For us, I mean."

"I'm not sure." She admits. "But I do know one thing; thinking too much into it could leave us in a very awkward position. So, I suggest we don't think about it, and just simply take it as it comes."

"But what if it's something more?" he interjects.

She pauses, considering what she should say. He just practically told her that he had a crush on her, and she had told him the same. She had seen a lot of situations like this end badly, and she was determined to not be one of them. However, denying everything would just be hurting him, and he didn't deserve that. He was a nice guy with a golden heart that deserved more than her, for certain. So, why her? What did she have to offer to a guy like him?

Still, she couldn't also deny that he stirred up some feelings in her. He was handsome, no doubt about it, and he was an amazing person. She cherished the time she got to spend with him, and always wanted more. She also couldn't deny that she hadn't pondered a what if. What if it did become more than friends? What would that mean for them? Because, despite everything, she did not want to lose his friendship in either way.

"Do you think it's something more?" she asks him.

He seemed taken aback by her question. "Um…I…er…"

"Don't worry about it." She says. "But I do wanna know one thing."

"Yep?"

"Do you promise that whatever happens, we'll still stay friends?" she asks.

He looks at her for a couple of minutes. Then he nods and smiles that charmingly handsome smile of his. "I promise."

And somehow, that promise felt like it would a much deeper meaning later on.

* * *

He slowly closes the door behind him and steps into his house, looking around.

Empty. Of course it would be. With Christmas getting closer, his "grandfather" was off at the North Pole, preparing for the upcoming holiday.

Preparation for Christmas was different for each one of them. For North, it was making tons of gifts for the tiny tots who had all been very good this year. For Jack, it was making it snow and enjoying with your buddies. Of course it had been 300 years since he had actual fun during Christmas, what with no one believing in him and all, but this year he was fairly optimistic. He had two amazing friends with whom he could spend the day with.

Also, another thought crossed his mind; if possible, maybe he could snag a kiss with Skylar under the mistletoe.

Quickly shaking himself out of that thought, he goes to sit on the couch. "Bad Jack." He tells himself. "Skylar is your friend and not your love interest."

But that didn't mean he couldn't fantasize. Sure he had a real life now and all, but for how long? Sooner or later they would defeat pitch again and he would become a spirit again. Chasing after someone like Skylar wasn't fair, to her as well as him. She deserved someone who was real, who would treat her well.

He sighs. She would just be another one of those girls then. The one who would eventually forget about him, and he would go onto the next one, possibly in about 30 years, if he was lucky.

But something tugged at his heartstrings. Maybe she wouldn't forget about him. Even if he disappeared off the face of the Earth, maybe she would still remember him. And maybe, just maybe, she would believe in him. But for that to happen he would have to tell her the truth.

He seriously hated that voice inside his head.

Yup, the same one that was telling him that he was so screwed up.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this story^^**

**And I am also looking for someone who can design a cover page for this story, if it's possible. I cannot draw at all, and I would appreciate some help.**

**Thanks a lot.**

**Read and review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys.**

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

"Guys, you have to see this." Alex says, plopping a newspaper onto the middle of the table.

Jack shifts his turkey sandwich away and Skylar simply jerks up, moving her hamburger out of the way. After checking that there was no paper in her lunch, she turns her head to look at the over-excited face of her speedster friend. "What is it this time, Alex?" she asks.

"And maybe you should watch where you throw your papers." Jack points out. "I certainly don't want newspaper in my sandwich."

Alex gives a huge sigh. "I'm sorry, guys. But this is really cool." He pulls up a chair and sits himself down, taking the newspaper and opening a particular page. "Check this out." He hands the paper to Skylar, barely containing his joy.

She quickly looks over the huge one-page advertisement that Alex just shoved in her face, and then even her face widens into a smile. "Oh cool, the Winter Festival is in town."

"The Winter Festival?" Jack asks.

She nods. "Yup, it's one of the most anticipated things around this town." She tells him.

"But what is it, exactly?" he asks again.

"It's like a fair." Alex explains to him. "Only it's held a couple of weeks before Christmas. It's a great place to visit, you know, get some last minute Christmas shopping done, have a bite to eat, play some games or just simply have a great outing with friends."

Jack grins. "Must be a nice place."

"It is." She tells him. "I visited it the first time last year, and I absolutely fell in love with it."

"We all did the first time we went there." Alex chuckles, taking the paper back and going over the different activities. "Ooh, they have a kissing booth this year. Now I have _got_ to check that out!"

"Why?" Jack asked, half grinning.

"Because Alex here can't get a date on his own." Skylar says an edge to her voice. "A kissing booth is the only place a girl would willingly kiss him, and only because he's paying them."

"That's not true!" Alex protests. "I can so get a date on my own."

"Then prove it." She snaps.

"I will." He says, huffily. "In fact, I'll get a date to the Winter Festival."

She grins, leaning back in her chair and popping a French fry in her mouth. "Whatever, dude." She says. "If you wanna make a pet, at least put some money on the table."

"How much are we talking about here?" Alex asks, a little wary. When she got into it, Skylar was very good at bets.

She holds out her ten fingers. "Ten bucks," she says, "plus a free dinner at that new Japanese place that just opened up downtown, if you can get a date to the Winter Festival this Friday."

"And if I can't?" he asks.

"Twenty bucks, _and_ you'll be paying for dinner." She says with a grin.

"Seriously?" he groans. "That place is super-expensive."

"We have a deal or not?" she asks, casually leaning back in her chair and fixing him with an impatient look.

He takes a few seconds to decide. Finally, he caves. "Deal." He sighs.

Jack, for one, had been observing the proceedings happening over the last couple of minutes, turning from one person to the other, just to gage each other's reactions. He could tell that Alex was getting close to exploding with fury, and that he had only agreed to the bet because he didn't want to seem like a coward. Skylar, on the other hand, was calm, cool and collected, as if she knew she would win the bet, and was already thinking of what all she would make him buy and what she could make of her twenty bucks. He could feel the tension coming off in waves off of Alex, and it made him slightly uncomfortable, yet Skylar just sat there, as if things like this happened between her and Alex on a daily basis.

"Fine." Alex huffs, grabbing his backpack and storming off.

Jack turns to Skylar. "Well, now what?" he asks.

"We just watch Alex make a fool of himself." She chuckles.

He laughs along. "But now where does this leave us?" he asks.

She shrugs. "I dunno. But my family and I are visiting the Winter Festival on Friday, and they said it wouldn't hurt to bring a few friends." She says.

"So, you seriously wouldn't mind if I tag along with you?" he asks. "I mean, this Festival sounds cool, but I won't be able to visit it myself."

"Of course I don't mind." She smiles at him. "We're giving Alex a ride too, now possibly his "date" as well, so one more person shouldn't be much of a problem."

"You sure?" he asks.

"Please, Jack." She says. "It's just going to be me, Dick, Tim and Barbara. You're not gonna be a bother, trust me."

* * *

When Jack sees her between periods, she's leaning against her locker, an amused look on her face as she watches something a little way away.

"What're you doing?" he asks her in a low voice.

She gestures with her head. "Just watch." She chuckles.

He looks in the direction of her gaze and he sees Alex, talking to some blonde girl. They go back and forth for a while, but then the girl walks away, leaving him running after her.

He finds himself chuckling along. "That's pretty funny."

"I know, right?" she asks. "This is only going to get better."

"But he better hurry up." Jack says. "He's only got two more days."

"Nah, I think we'll just see how it goes." She says. "Anyway, it's a win for us if he doesn't make it."

He nods, understanding her logic. He then sees a couple of kids carrying a large, jolly Santa across the hallway, and another thing strikes him.

"Do you believe?" he blurts out.

"Huh?"

"In all this stuff?" he asks.

"Stuff?" she asks.

"Like Christmas, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman?" he clarifies.

She pauses for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Yes, I do believe."

"Because they kept you from nightmares?" he guesses.

She shakes her head. "Not in the least. Where I was raised, we didn't have time for nightmares or believing in such things."

"Then why do you believe?" he asks.

She looks over the corridor, her eyes staring off into space. "I think it's mostly because of my brother." She says. "Once I came here, I saw just how much negativity there is in the world. And I know it's corny, but sometimes, it doesn't hurt to feel like someone's watching over you for once." She slightly chuckles. "And if that means believing in a jolly old man handing out presents, giant bunnies hiding eggs or fairies taking your teeth in the night, well, I'll take it. I've seen stranger things, after all."

"What about Jack Frost?" he asks. "Do you believe in him?"

She narrows her eyes a bit. "I'm not really sure. I mean, I haven't heard much about him, so I don't know how much I believe. But I do know that he sounds cool."

"He does?" he hopes the smile on his face is not too wide.

"Yeah. Having the power to control ice and snow, how cool is that?"

"You think so?" Okay, he's definitely smiling widely now.

She opens her mouth to say something else, but then a scream cuts her off. Quickly sharing a look with each other, they rush to see what was wrong, and what they see gives them the shock of their life. Because, standing there, in the middle of their hallway, is a disfigured person, heading towards a group of girls. And granted, it was mostly the fact that he had super large fangs protruding from his mouth that was setting them off.

She looks over the courtyard, searching for Alex. There's no way that she could sneak off and change. Plus, that would take time, and time they didn't have. If Alex could quickly change, then she might have an excuse to help out, because there was no way she was just standing by doing nothing. She turns to Jack, who's just standing there with a slightly horrified expression on his face. So he wasn't going to be of much help.

Turning back to the scene, she shook off the scared little girl inside her. She wasn't Skylar Grayson anymore. She was Wonder Girl. And Wonder Girl did not stand by and let strange fur-covered creatures eat innocents.

She jumps forward, grabbing a rope that was lying nearby (why it was even there, she wasn't so sure, but she wasn't going to question it.) Stepping behind the creature, she lassos a loop around its neck, making it give out a strangled gasp and claw at its throat. Keeping it short, she restrained the creature, yelling at the group of girls to get out of there _now_. As the creature struggled, she put on a show to restrain him. It was more believable and she _did_ have an audience. But first things first, where was Alex?

Just then, the creature, clearly having brains, turned to her, its eyes glowing ominously dark. As she stared into its eyes, a weird feeling washed over her. Those eyes were as dark as night, and there was a slight haze coming from them. It almost reminded her of….her dream.

She remembered it very well, which was strange since she tended to forget her dreams quickly. She remembered the scene and the setting. She remembered how Jack and the entire city had dissolved into black mist. She particularly remembered the man who was made out of darkness; the same darkness which was clouding this creature's eyes. He had said that she was an interesting case, which was most likely a warning of sorts. Was it just a coincidence that she had that dream, and a day later, _this_ had happened?

Just then, as the creature was about to lash at her, a tan-and-red blur shot through the campus, knocking the creature down. As it tried to stand up, snarling, the blur returned and smacked it in the jaw, using speed and momentum to knock it out. The creature stumbles and falls, but not before the blur snaps a couple of handcuffs on its hands. Then, it stabilizes to reveal Impulse, standing there with a worried look on his face. That was mostly because the creature had shifted back to its original form of a student.

"That's Ethan." She says, not taking her eyes off the unconscious body.

"Hm?" Alex asks, stepping over him to get closer to her, also eyeing the rope in her hands.

"He's in my English class." She says. "I let him borrow my notes for last week's test."

"And that's important, because…?" he leaves the sentence hanging, hoping that she would fill in the blanks for him.

"I have a bad feeling about this." She turns to him, and he can see it in her eyes. He knows better than anyone that anything that can shake Wonder Girl this much, must be more than a big deal.

"I'll call Nightwing." He informs her. "This is a situation that requires a skilled detective, and Batman's not available right now." She nods as he contacts her brother, stepping closer to the unconscious classmate of hers. Then, another thought strikes her, and she looks around, searching for him. For some reason, she finds it extremely odd and frightening. Where was Jack?

* * *

"I'm telling you, I don't remember!"

As the detectives check the scene out and question Ethan, Skylar watches from near the lockers. They had come too late anyway; Nightwing had arrived and taken his info an hour ago. And in light of this interesting new development, the school had been shut down for the day and kids were almost storming the door to get out and leave this place. She herself would be heading back soon, but first Alex needed to get out of the bathroom…

"Hey." A voice near her ear makes her jump.

"Jack!" she exclaims. "I told you not to do that."

"Sorry." He grins.

She narrows her eyes slightly. "So, where were you?"

"Um, I was gonna go get help for you." He stammers.

"You panicked and ran?" she supplied.

"Yes!" he quickly says. "I panicked."

Raising an eyebrow at his weird behavior, she quickly shakes it off. It was probably nothing. "So, who're you waiting for?" he asks.

"Alex." She says. "He still has to come out of the washroom."

"Oh." He says, pausing for a moment. "Say, um, what was his deal?" he asks, gesturing to Ethan, who was still arguing with the cops.

She shrugs. "Says he had nothing to do with it." She says. "He said that he was just afraid of werewolves, but he wasn't one."

"Is that so?" Jack asks, partly to himself, which makes her wonder once again what he's been up to. "Do you believe him?" he asks.

She stands in silence for a moment, just looking at the scene going on beyond the lockers. "Yes." She says. "I believe him."

He nods. Then, he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. "Sorry for leaving you hanging there." He softly says.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." She tells him.

"No, seriously. What you did was incredibly brave. I mean, taking that thing on by yourself, even I didn't have the courage to do that." He says.

She takes a deep breath once he finishes his tiny rant. Then she lets a smile out. "It was nothing." She says. "Where I come from, doing nothing wouldn't be accepted at all."

He still looks sheepish, so she puts her hands on his shoulders, trying to comfort him. "Don't blame yourself." She tells him. "These things happen. That's why we have vigilantes, to help take care of messes like these."

"And people like you." He says, with utter honestly. For some reason, she feels her face getting hot at his compliment.

Just then, Alex comes out, stopping in his tracks when he sees the position they're both in. Shooting him a look that was one part "I'll meet you in two minutes" and another part "Don't say anything unless you wanna be clobbered", she turns back to Jack.

"I gotta go." She tells him.

He sighs. "Yeah, you always do." He half-mutters.

But then, she gives him a quick hug before grabbing her bag that was lying on the floor and walking up to Alex, leaving a stunned and open-mouthed teenager behind this time.

* * *

**A/N: Things are really heating up now^^**

**Please review**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. They really made my day!**

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

"But you're sure you didn't get hurt?"

She gives a sigh of exasperation. "Do I _look_ hurt to you, Dick?" She asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

He pauses for a moment. "No." he says, as if accepting the fact. "But that still doesn't stop the fact that you put yourself in danger. You endangered your secret, your life and everyone else's." he scolded.

"I _saved_ their lives." She says. "Besides, I wasn't alone. Alex was there to help me."

"But doing so you put your identity at risk." He says, narrowing his eyes behind his mask. "What would you do if someone traced your actions back to Wonder Girl?"

"Dick, chill." She says. "No one's gonna know it was me. Besides I froze halfway through the stunt." Then she immediately regrets saying that because she sees his eyes widen, and she quickly curses the lack of coordination between her brain and mouth.

"You _froze_?" he asks, partly enraged and partly shocked. "_Skylar_, you _froze_ and almost let it _attack_ you?"

"Only for a few seconds." She says, trying to calm him down.

"In which time it would have clawed your head off." He says, getting angrier than ever.

"Which he couldn't have done because Alex had already taken him out before he could lift his arm." She says.

"Exactly! If he hadn't gotten there in time…" He let the sentence hang, before taking a deep breath. "Skylar, I'm worried about this. You could have been killed." He lowers his voice. "I could have lost you."

She sighs. Of course that was what he was worried about; losing her. It was common knowledge that she tended to be a bit reckless and often think with her heart, even among the Team. That was why he preferred to have at least one Bat on the squad she was placed on (preferably him) and pushed her harder than the others in training. It was all because he knew he wouldn't be there to protect her always, and he wanted to make sure that she could take care of herself.

"I can take care of myself, Dick." She tells him. "You know it takes a lot to kill me off."

"I don't want to take that chance." He says. "Honestly, I have half a mind to not let you go to the Winter Festival."

Her eyes widen. She could understand grounding, but the Winter Festival? That was just harsh.

He smiles slightly. "But you're already on suspension from the Team and you're grounded for a week, so I'll let you off the hook this time."

She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dick."

He smiles more widely now. "Good. Now scram." He jokingly tells her.

She walks towards her room at the Cave. Suddenly, she slows to a stop, and sighs.

"You guys can come out now." She says.

She turns her head to see her supposed "friends" peeping out of a corner. "Man, you knew we were here?" Alex asks.

"You're getting good at this." Tim remarks.

"Yeah, well, nothing happened, so you don't have to continue spying." She says.

She turns and walks towards the zeta tubes, intent on going home.

* * *

"Excited for the Winter Festival?" Alex asks her.

She nods. "Yeah. There's a whole bunch of cool new things this year that I wanna try out. Plus," she leans in slightly, "there's a reptile exhibit and I intend on pranking Tim."

He chuckled. "And I intend on helping you with that prank." He gives her a quick fist bump.

"Well then, my fellow partner in crime," she says, mockingly, "see you tomorrow."

He mockingly salutes her and walks away to the Library. Why he would go there she wasn't too sure, because Alex and libraries never really mixed. She faintly recalled him telling her that he wanted to get this particular book for a read. She shook her head out of those thoughts. One thing she had learned was to let Alex do what he did and she would be free to see the sun next morning.

She then turned around to see a guy coming up to her.

"Oh hey, Ethan." She says, forcing cheer into her voice, yet not sounding like she was overdoing it.

"Hey Skylar." He says. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a few papers. "Here are your English notes."

"Thanks." She says, taking them from his hand. "I was wondering if they helped you or not."

"Oh yeah, they've been real helpful." He says. "In the last test, I actually rose up to a B+."

"That's pretty good." She says.

"Oh, and thanks." He says, prompting her to raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

"For yesterday." He says. "I heard that you stopped me from…doing something I would regret. If it wasn't for you-"

"It was nothing." She interrupts him. "I just couldn't stand by and watch people get hurt." She tells him. "Speaking of which, how's the therapy going?"

"Oh it's going great!" he smiles. "But I still have no idea what happened to me."

"Well, it's not's gonna happen again, so you have nothing to worry about." She turns back and puts the papers in her locker.

"Um, hey, Skylar?"

"Hm?" she asks distractedly.

"Would you…um…I mean…" he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "Wow, this is harder than I thought. Um, would you like to go with me to the Winter Festival?"

Her eyes widen slightly as she pauses for a moment. Did he just ask her out?

"Um," she says. What was she supposed to say? That her overprotective brother might not want her dating so early? That she felt weird going out with a guy who could have killed her in cold blood? "Actually, Ethan, I'm sorry, but I'm already going with my brothers and you know how they are."

"Well, maybe some other time then." He says. "We could just hang out, grab a bite to eat, watch a movie or something?"

He sounded so hopeful, and she knew it would be painful to crash his spirits. But, the fact was that she didn't think she was right for him, in any way. They were classmates and lab partners and that was all they would ever be. Even she knew that and she had never even had a real boyfriend or been out on a real date. The truth was harsh, but it was the truth. She felt no connection to him, and she didn't feel right for them both to be hurt for something that was never _there_ in the first place.

At that moment as well, she felt a set of eyes on her, and when she looked out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack standing there, arms crossed and observing her interactions. Was it wrong that she felt guilty for some reason?

She turns back to Ethan. "Actually, Ethan, I'm sorry, but I don't think it'll work out between us. And besides," she tries to think of a good excuse, "I think I'm interested in someone else." She blurts out, and then wonders what on earth is going through her head.

"Oh," he says, crestfallen. "I understand. But thanks for lending me your notes though." Saying so, he walks away, looking slightly dejected.

* * *

That's also when Jack decided to come up to her. "What was with him?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing." She shrugs. "Just returned my notes, thanked me for stopping him yesterday and asked me out."

"Did he now?" Was that jealousy in his voice? "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him that it wasn't going to work out between us." She says. "I feel a bit bad about that, but I feel it's for the best."

"You did?" It was more of a statement than a question, but she still nodded.

The silence between them is comfortable and only last for a few moments.

"So, your brother didn't stop you from going to the Winter Festival, did he?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "He had half a mind to, but he's already grounded me from the week and stopped me from going to my after-school activities, so how could it be worse?"

He nodded in agreement. Her grounding had even come to the point where she wasn't allowed to have either Alex or Jack over. Despite his persuading, she hadn't seemed willing to break the rules at all. He thinks some part of her suspects that they have security alarms or something that would prevent her from escaping. If that were true, poor girl must be tied down a lot to have such a strict family.

"Have you ever broken the rules before?" he asks.

She looks at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, done something stupid for one? Like breaking out of the house during grounding, stayed up past curfew, smashed a window or thrown a paintball at someone, just for fun?" he asked.

She looks at him like he was crazy. "No, I've never done that." She says. She looks down, using her hand to push her bangs out of her face. "I don't think I've ever had a chance to do that, and I don't think I even want to risk breaking the rules."

"You mean…?"

"Rules exist for a reason, don't they?" The look in her eyes is sad and melancholic. "The world today is so fast, you always risk being left behind. Also, there's just so much chaos, and discontent among the lives of people that I feel like every day is a constant fight to just be alive. I fight everyday just so I can live the next day. I've never had a chance to break the rules."

He watches her, studying her movements. "Skylar, when was the last time you had any fun?" he asked. "The last time you really let loose and just did things without thinking them through?"

She scrunches up her face, thinking. "I guess, never." She admits.

His eyes widen in shock. Okay, how _did_ he ever miss her? He was supposed to be the Guardian of Fun and here was a girl who had no idea what real fun _was_.

_Well,_ he thought to himself_, I guess it's up to me then._

"You and me." He says, startling her.

"Wha…?"

"During the Winter Festival, I'm gonna show you what real fun is." He tells her. "I promise, it's gonna be the best night of your life, and there's no way I'm taking no for an answer."

* * *

**A/N: As you can guess, this chapter is just a filler chapter. Since writing the last chapter, I've been feeling some feelings that I needed to vent out in here, and I also wanted to try something new with Jack and Skylar's approach.**

**The real thing begins in the next chapter!**

**Please read and review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: ?**

**What's there to say? Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

Just as she finishes buttoning up her shirt, the door of her room opens and she turns around to see Dick, surprisingly still in his casual outfit, as she dubbed it, a simple black shirt with jeans, something t

hat he normally wore outside with a jacket over it, but never went out partying in.

"Aren't you dressed?" she asks him.

"Yeah, about that, there's been a change in plans." He says. "I'm not coming with you guys."

Her eyes widen. "You're not?"

"No." he shakes his head solemnly. "Some new info about the case has come in, and I need to pull a double shift to clear this out." He looks at her. "I have a hunch that the next attack will be sooner than we think, and it might be close to your school."

"What gave you _that_ idea?" she mumbles, still not completely over how protective he was of her.

He sighs. "I'm only being cautious." He says. "It might be you, or some other innocent bystander. We can't have more deaths. Tim and Barbara will go with you and your friends to the festival, but remember, everyone on the Team is on call until we sort this thing out. Until then, have fun."

She sighs. "You know I will." She says.

* * *

Just as Barbara pulls up at the Festival, Alex shoots out of the car, rushing off to God knows where. While Tim and Barbara exchange confused looks, she and Jack roll their eyes.

Their bet was still on, and it was eating away at her that he wouldn't tell us whether he had gotten a date or not. For all she knew, he was running up to some girl to beg her to pretend to be his date so he wouldn't be embarrassed. But she doubted that. Despite his slow sense, he took his bets seriously, which made it fun to place such bets with him. And with the way he was acting, she could guess that it was about to get _very_ interesting.

Barbara turned back to her. "Did he just…?"

"Don't even ask." Skylar tells the older woman.

Barbara raises an eyebrow, but then wisely decided not to even think about it. She sets the car in the parking space and gets out, seemingly with intent of enjoying herself for once.

Skylar can't blame her. The redhead did have a tough week. Finishing up her last year of college as well as balancing a job as a librarian along with Team stuff really could take a toll on anyone. She had once mockingly reassured her that she wouldn't have to face this when she was in college; if she was ever in a pinch, she could always just call Dick for help. While she had laughed then, one thing was for sure, she wasn't going to rely on Dick for longer than necessary. It wasn't fair to him, and she needed to stand on her own two feet.

"Hey, you coming?" Jack asks her. She nods and gets out of the car.

As she sees a look of awe settle upon his features, she takes a deep breath, smelling all the food, ranging from popcorn to hotdogs to cotton candy. As it was the Winter Festival, the theme was, of course, ice. All the tents and stalls were light blue and white, with snowflakes to top them off. Most of them had fake snow lining their roofs, even though it wasn't needed, as it was already snowing softly. In the center of the enormous Festival Grounds, stood one ginormous Christmas tree, completely decked out with lights and ornaments. Towering over the entire city, it sure looked majestic.

"Wow." Jack says.

"I know." She says. "This place has the same reaction in me too."

Tim places a hand on her shoulder, seeking to lead her inside when he catches sight of Cassie. Pausing for a moment, he then quickly tells her to be careful and dashes off, leaving the two teenagers alone.

"Well," Jack says, "let's go and have the night of our lives." He leads her inside, and she braces herself for what's about to come.

* * *

Honestly, she's having a blast.

When Jack promised her that he would show her how to have fun, he wasn't kidding. He made her try _everything_, right from the rings to the dunk tank, and he was not going to take no for an answer. And it was so nice to just loosen up and act dumb for once, just laugh because there was no reason to. And she thinks about this as she tries the shooting range. Just as she aims the rifle, Jack comes up behind her and adjusts the rifle.

"You're not gonna hit the target holding it like that." He says.

She smirks. "You'd be surprised." Then, promptly shooting the three balloons in a row, she turns to see a slightly shocked look on his face. "I'm a good shot." She tells him.

He closes his mouth. "I can see that." He grins, and she laughs as his next sentence is muffled by the large polar bear the stall keeper puts in his hands.

"Okay," she says, turning to the large pile of amassed gifts. "what do we do with this?"

He shrugs. "I'd say leave it here. Some kid'll probably take them home. He needs them more than we do anyway."

She nods in agreement as he places the bear on the pile. They then turn around and walk to the beverage stand, where they get themselves some hot chocolate as the cold was really starting to set in. It wasn't biting cold though, more like pleasant chills. Still, it was an excuse to drink hot cocoa and it wasn't going to stop her. As they walk by the stalls and games, she thinks back to the last time the two of them hung out like this.

"So, what now?" she asks, shaking the thoughts out of her head and throwing her empty foam cup in the nearest trash can.

He pauses for a moment, finishing his cup as well and following her lead by throwing it in the trash can. He purses his lips, thinking for a few seconds, when the sound of music comes their way. They turn around to see all the people gathering on the dance floor as the familiar tune of Adam Lambert's "Never Close Our Eyes" starts to play through the speakers. Jack turns back to her, and when she looks at him she sees a strange smile on his face.

"Now, we dance." He says, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the dance floor.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, wait." She says, finally getting his attention. "I can't dance."

"That's alright, none of us do." He gestures to the rest of the teenagers. "But we're still doing it."

"But…" she starts to say but he cuts her off.

"Skylar, remember what we agreed on? For one night, we don't think, we just do. So, stop thinking and get with the crowd." He tells her, dragging her into the midst of the crowd, where the music was really loud. In fact, she could literally hear her teeth chattering with the booming music.

She immediately gets the message that she's terrible at dancing. As she looks around at the other people, she horribly tries to imitate what they're doing. Jack rolls his eyes, and she glares at him. How dare he have the nerve to _laugh_?

Then, he grabs her arms, pulls her closer to him, and gestures to her to just go with the flow. Closing her eyes, she feels the beat of the song, and starts dancing to it. Opening her eyes, she sees Jack smiling at her, encouraging her. As the last chorus boomed through the speakers, the energy became contagious, and she found herself swept in with the excitement. She locked eyes with him, and then it could have been just the two of them, which she would have preferred.

As the song ended and the crowd erupted into cheers and encores, she found herself extremely close to Jack, with his arm around her waist. "You did great." He whispers.

"Thanks." She pants. She looks up at him and for some reason; he seemed to be getting closer.

Before she could react, she saw something out of the corner of her eye and straightened up, pushing herself away from him and shattering the moment.

"Wha…What's wrong?" he asks.

"I thought I saw something." She says, moving in the direction that leads into the woods.

He raced up to her and grabbed her arm. "I don't think you should be going there." He says, a touch of fear in his voice.

She slowly moves his hand away. "I'll be fine." She tells him. "I'm just going to see what it is and then I'll be back."

Saying so, she moves into the woods, away from the bright lights of the festival.

"Like that's all that happens." Jack grumbles, going after her.

* * *

The closer she gets to whatever it is, the more scared she feels.

And it unnerves her. It's not just normal fear too, it's the same fear she felt in her dream.

Wait, her dream? She did just have that dream only a couple of days ago, and now she was feeling this same fear. Could there be a connection?

Now, the most logical thing to do was to call for backup. She could feel her comm in her pocket. All she had to do was whip it out and call for help. Tim and Barbara were somewhere back at the Festival, with Cassie too. All she had to do was turn back…

But she couldn't, as she found out. Something about this kept calling out to her, like a far away echo that was hard to understand. She couldn't call anyone just yet. No, she had to find out what it was, and what it meant.

Besides, she was only observing. She wasn't stupid enough to engage in battle, especially if her suspicions were correct. So, ignoring the sensible part of her brain that was yelling at her to just leave it and go back and enjoy the rest of the night, she pushes on ahead.

She comes out into a circular clearing lit up by the light of the moon. All her instincts tell her to stay in the shadows, like Dick taught her. _Most times, the shadows can be your only cover against a threat_, he had told her. _Use them to your advantage_.

But this time, she was going to defy her brother's rules.

She stepped out into the clearing, and all time seemed to stop. All she had time to think was, _it's really happening._

Just like in her dream, the shadows in front of her seemed to rise up, no; they actually _rose_ up, and formed the shape of a man. The shadows solidified, and she saw a face coming into being, as if being made out of clay. The man opened his eyes, and she took a step back, for those eyes just made up the complete picture. He was the man from her dreams.

He smiled. Not a warm one, but a long, sly smile. "Well, doesn't this make things easier?"

When he moved, he didn't actually seem to lift his legs or anything; he just moved within the shadows. He circled her, his glowing yellow eyes studying her. She kept her fists clenched at her sides, ready to attack if necessary. She also felt the comm grow heavier in her pocket, but she wasn't sure she would have enough time to signal anybody.

"Yes, I definitely made the right choice." He says, in a voice as dark as the night.

"What do you mean?" she softly asks, remembering one trick her brother taught her that was not a Batman trick, but a Nightwing trick: _keep them talking until you signal for help_. Her finger inched towards her pocket, waiting for the opportunity for him to look away so she could remove it.

"Your fears." He says, as if talking to himself more than he was to her. "They're much more interesting to work with. Yes, I know I made the right choice when I picked you."

Her hand stops, and she practically freezes. "What are you talking about?"

He ignores her question, instead coming closer and closer to her. "And now, I can _CLAIM YOU_!"

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The sudden shout snaps her out of whatever trance she was in, and she hastily scrambles back just as a burst of cold energy erupted in front of her, forming ice. The man was also thrown back, and he looked in distaste at the person standing with his back to her, holding what looked like a wooden staff with a curved tip, like a shepherd's staff. As she lies in the snow and catches her breath, her eyes widen as she starts _seeing_ what's going on around her.

The man glares at the boy. "Not this time, Frost." He growls. "But another time, definitely."

The boy angled his staff, and her breath catches in her throat as the staff spews out a burst of ice towards the form on the man. Before it can hit him, he melts back into the shadows, and is simply _gone_.

As she gasps for breath, the boy throws his staff away, running to her side. "Skylar, are you okay?"

She looks up at him, and nearly coughs out in surprise.

"Jack?"

* * *

**A/N: Finally! I've been planning this chapter practically ever since I started this story. But I can tell you now, the story's only just heating up.**

**Thanks for all of the views, guys. The very fact that my story is even being read means a lot to me.**

**But honestly, I'd like some creative feedback. How can I improve my story?**

**Please read and review.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys^^ **

**This next chapter is dedicated to all of you who continue to read and support me.**

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

_It's all a dream._

That's what she tells herself. The man out of her nightmares did not just come out in front of her, claiming her for himself. Someone did not jump out and save her by shooting him with ice. That someone was not at her side right now, helping her up while his staff lay a few feet away.

No, it wasn't Jack who was at her side.

She constantly tells herself this, but there is no mistaking him. He's dressed in the same clothes that he arrived in. Also, there was no mistaking that brown hair and those blue eyes. As much as she wanted to believe it was all just some random nightmare, the fact was that this was really happening.

Jack was the one who had saved her.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asks her.

She looks up at him and sees the same amount of concern in them that she normally sees, giving her all the more confirmation that this was _her_ Jack, alright. That ruled out the possibility that it was some stranger who looked just like him and was even dressed exactly the same way he was. Her gaze shifts to the staff.

"Jack, you…" she starts to say, but he cuts her off.

"This isn't the time or place to discuss this." He tells her. "But, I assure you, it's not a dream."

_Great,_ she thinks, _all I want is for you to assure me that it is._

"You can…" she tries again, but then she hears running and her name being called.

While she turns her head to see Alex running up to them, with Tim and Barbara in tow, Jack turns to his staff, willing it to become part of the snow once again. It obeys his command and sinks into the ground, waiting to be called upon again.

Tim runs up to her. "Sky, what's the matter?" he asks her.

She takes a few deep breaths, but finds nothing to say. "Someone tried to attack her, but retreated soon enough." Jack supplies for her.

Barbara looks at him quizzically. "And just what are _you_ doing here?" she asks.

"I heard noises and came to check it out." He says. "When I came out she was like this."

Raising an eyebrow at him, she turns back to help Skylar up. While they take her a little way away to have a hushed conversation, she looks over her shoulder at him, and he sends a silent message to her, asking her not to tell them. She sends a silent message back, _your secret's safe with me_.

Alex places a hand on his shoulder and takes him away to talk and thank him. Skylar turns back to the two worried Bats standing in front of her.

"We received a distress signal from your comm." Tim explains. "But did you send it late?"

She silently nods. "Now why would you do that?" Barbara asks. "You know your brother sent you with instructions to call for help if you were in trouble."

"I guess…I thought I could take them on my own." She says, rubbing her arms a bit nervously. "And I did. I didn't need help this time."

"Hm hmm." Barbara hummed. "Look, you were lucky Jack found you before you could get yourself into any more trouble."

"Yeah." She says, looking over her shoulder at the place where she had last seen the staff to find that it was now gone. "Lucky."

* * *

He leans against his staff with his eyes glued to the globe, trying to ignore his friends as they pace around the room.

"You let her see you?" North asks, for the hundredth time.

Jack sighs. "No. She didn't see my true form." He says. "She just saw me holding my staff and blasting Pitch with ice."

"But she still saw you." Bunny points out. "That was irresponsible, mate."

"Look, I did what I had to." Jack says, pointing his staff at Bunny. "She was in trouble and I did what I was meant to do." He puts his staff down and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, Pitch specifically targeted _her_ for some reason. He actually _claimed_ her. What else was I supposed to do?"

Tooth followed his movements, a look of sympathy in her eyes. "Jack, we know you did what you could, but the fact remains, Pitch is striking. We need you sharp and focused."

He looks up. "What're you trying to say?" he asks.

Tooth puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm trying to say, we can't afford to make any mistakes just because we got too attached to a mortal." His eyes widen as he soaks in the meaning of her words.

"I won't make any mistakes." He says, pushing her hand off. "But I'm going to keep a closer eye on her."

* * *

He looks for her all day, but doesn't find her. When he asks Alex, the redhead gives the reply that he didn't find her too. The day goes agonizingly slowly as he tries to concentrate on his lessons, but his mind is focused on her instead.

Lucky for him, he spots her during free period when he was wandering the halls. Or rather, they see each other, and while he moves forward to reach out to her, she moves back and makes to get away. Narrowing his eyes, he stops her from moving away, and before she can say anything, puts a finger to his lips, and drags her into an empty classroom, closing and locking the door behind him. He turns back to her, leaning with his back against the door.

"Okay, now we can talk." He says.

The way she looks at him makes him regret about the way he said it. He should have known by now that she wasn't a person who liked things being defined for her. Like she had once told him, she preferred to do the defining.

"Excuse me?" she crosses her arms over her chest. "But I don't think you have the right to decide what we do and what we don't."

He puts his hands up in defense. "Okay, I'm sorry!" he quickly says. "But you do know we have to talk about it sometime."

"And you choose _today_ to talk about it?" she asks, glaring at him. "Jack, I don't have time for this." She reaches out to undo the clasp of the door, but he stops her.

"Then make time." He says. A moment or two passes like that, with her and him just looking at each other with her hand on the door lock and his hand on her arm. After a few heartbeats, she withdraws her hand, stepping away from the door, and he pulls his hand away.

"Okay," she says, "we can talk."

He heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." He smiles. "I thought you would just push me out of the way and leave."

She looks at him. "Jack, you know I wouldn't do that."

The way she says it strikes a little nervousness in his heart, and he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "Okay, where do we start?"

"First things first." She says. "The Festival."

He sighs. Of course she'd ask about the Festival first. "What do you wanna know?"

"About what you did." She answers. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I saw what you did, and I want you to tell it to my face."

He takes a deep breath. "Fine," he says in defeat, "But only if you tell me your secret as well."

"What?"

"You heard me. I share my secret, and you share yours."

She looks down. "I've told you before, jack, most of them aren't my secrets to share." But before he can get really down, she looks up again. "But there is a part that is _mine_ and mine _alone_. I can show you that."

"What do you mean show…?"

Before he can complete, she pushes back the sleeves of her hoodie up to her elbows, revealing two silver arm bands that looked a lot like…

He looks up at her as the realization set in. "Wonder Girl?"

She nods, covering her arms up again. "You see why I couldn't tell you. It wasn't just my secret; it was my mentor's as well."

It takes him a few seconds to process this. "And Alex…?"

"…is one of us." She completes. "But which one, you'll have to ask him yourself. I can't tell you more, since you see how much I've already given out." She straightens up. "Now it's your turn."

"My turn? Oh, right."

He closes his fist, willing the air to cool and condense to form ice inside the closed space. As she watches his action a little endearingly, he opens his palm to reveal a solid white snowflake floating a little above the surface of his hand.

"As you can see, I…I control ice and snow." Okay, it wasn't a total lie.

"You're a meta?" she asks.

He nods. "Yep." He says. "Most of this works better with my staff around. It channelizes my power and makes it easier to control."

"Wish that were the case for all of us." They share a laugh and he can't help but think how happy he is that they've cleared up the air between them. If he was truthful, he missed laughing with her like this, without worrying about anything else.

As they come down from their laughter high, she sticks out her hand. "No more secrets?" she asks.

He smiles and shakes it. "No more secrets." He agrees.

At that very moment, the school bell rings, shattering the moment. She picks up her bag. "I've gotta go to class. See ya."

As she walks out of the door, he just can't help the guilt that was settling in on his heart. Maybe it was the fact that he had agreed that there were no more secrets between them, at least the ones that were theirs, and he was keeping one of the biggest from her, or maybe it was the fact that he had lied straight to her face when he smiled and shook her hand.

* * *

"So, you told him about us?" Alex asks.

"Not _us_. _Me_. I told him about me." She replies.

"You told him about your brother as well?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "No. Like I told him, it's not my secret to share." She closes her book that lay open in front of her and slides it across the table.

"Good." He says. "Because if Dick ever found out what you did…"

"He won't." She cuts him off. "Living with a Bat has taught me a few things about keeping secrets."

He nods in agreement. Then, he digs inside his bag and pulls out a particular book.

"Hey, isn't that the book you were trying to find?" she asks.

He nods. "I thought you might like to read it." He passes the book over to her. "I know you enjoy reading about mythology and all that. Well, this is about mythology too, except for kids."

She looks down at the cover, and her eyes widen slightly at the title: _Jack Frost and Other Tales_

* * *

**A/N: Okay, now this is getting interesting. It's coming closer and closer to the part I imagined when I first thought of this story. **

**Please read and review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

"So, he's working again, isn't he?"

She nods, setting the phone between her cheek and shoulder while she pulls out her music player. "Alex, you know he has to." She tells him over the phone. "He's been beating himself up for not figuring this out, and for not being there when it happened."

"He's still not over that?" Alex sounded slightly shocked.

"It doesn't look like it." She says, setting the small device down and using her hand to hold the phone again. "This coming from the fact that he's been pushing me harder than ever in defense training and has grounded me for the next week."

She hears him chuckle over the line, and she growls a little to let him know that it _wasn't_ funny. "You're not in such a good mood when you're grounded, are you?" he asks. She shakes her head, even when knowing that he can't possibly see, but knows that he understands. He wouldn't be her best friend if he didn't _know_ her as well as he did, despite their short duration of time.

Thinking on it, it was only a few months since she had known her other friend, but in that time, she can't deny that he hadn't made an impression on her in some way or the other. This left her wondering, even though she had forged a small friendship with Alex, it took a year for them to get really close. But with him, it had barely been four months and she found herself feeling close unlike any other. But she knew she was a hard nut to crack, so how was it, a brown haired boy was able to crack-

"Hey, you still on?" Alex's voice interrupts her chain of thought.

Quickly shaking out the thoughts of the other boy, she goes back to her conversation with Alex. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure you aren't getting distracted by thoughts of brown hair?"

Okay, maybe he knew her a little better than she thought.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Come on, Sky. You know you and Jack have been making googly-eyes at each other for quite some time." She hates him this time.

"We never did that!" She tries to protest, but a snicker from the other side cuts her off.

"You do it all the time." He says, sounding annoyingly nonchalant. "Sky, don't deny it. You know there's something about Jack that gets your heart beating."

"There's nothing like that because it never happens." She says.

"Well, then, what _does_ happen?" It's almost as if he's taunting her, pushing her to her limits.

She sighs. She really was not having this discussion with her best friend. "I'm not gonna talk about it." She says.

"Oh, yes, you are." He pipes up. "I'm not letting you hang up on me. If you do, I'm coming straight to your house until you spill."

She amusedly shakes her head. "Nothing, really happens between us." She softly says after a few moments. "We just really enjoy each other's company."

"Hm hm." He hums. "And I'm guessing, you guys feel very intimate with each other, like you can tell the other anything?"

"I guess." She agrees.

She hears him gives a dreamy sigh. "Sky, you've got it bad for Jack."

"Oh, like you're the love expert." She says.

"But even me, with my low experience, can sense that there's something between you and Jack." He says. "Sky, you have to tell him how you feel."

"He already knows." She knows that just shocked him out of his wits.

"He does?" he asks. "And…does he feel the same way?"

"Yep." She breathes out.

"And you guys didn't do _anything_ about it?"

"No."

"ARE YOU NUTS!" She's startled by his sudden outburst.

"Alex, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, except for the fact that two of my friends really like each other and yet do nothing about it." She can almost see him flailing.

"Alex, we were gonna."

"And you didn't, because…"

"There was too much at risk." She feels herself talk, but she's not sure who she's speaking to. "Our friendship mattered a lot more than some fling. If we tried to take things to the next level and it didn't work out, it might destroy our friendship." Unconsciously, she clenches her fist. "I'm not ready to risk that."

"But what's life without risk?" The question makes her stop for a moment and consider. "So what if it doesn't work out? You two are my best friends, and I know you. You'll make up at some point, because that's just the kind of people you two are." He takes a breath. "Life's too short, Sky, especially for people in our line of work. You don't wanna grow up and live in a world of 'what ifs' do ya?"

Honestly, she didn't. "But what if we weren't meant to be?"

"Meant to be?" he interrupts her. "You seriously can't live a life without experience, Skylar. Things come and go, and only later do we realize what we've been waiting for. But how do you expect to find someone when you're not even looking?"

She hangs up.

* * *

It's not often he comes back here.

Really, despite being modernized and all, this town just reminds him of everything he missed out on for the past 300 years. All the memories of good times faded into the past, all the woods spent running through now holding new houses and buildings, a pretty remote town now bustling with life, it's honestly a little sad.

He still avoids this place, because it's a reminder of his old life, a life that he'd very much like to move past. But, the past always has a way of catching up with you, as he's personally experienced. But this time, things have changed. He _chose_ to come here.

And _here_, meaning, to the town graveyard, the final resting place of his family.

He didn't come here just like that, but something prompted him to. What with the pressures of being a Guardian and this fiasco with Pitch and all, there was only one person he could turn to, and that was his little sister.

He bends down and places a small flower in front of her tombstone, letting himself chuckle slightly.

"I remember you used to love those flowers." He smiled. "You'd break into a huge smile and go all giggly when I'd present you with one of them." He rubs his neck a little awkwardly. "I know it's not the greatest 'I'm home' present, but it's all I could do in such a short while.

He sighs. "Emma, things have been going haywire lately. Pitch is on the move, and he's targeting one of my friends. He's claiming her, for some reason, and I can't figure out why. Combined with the fact that I'm getting a new perspective on things and all…" he groans, running a hand through his hair. "I'm…just…a little stretched out. I'm at a crossroads, just like last year, and I have no idea what to do."

He looks up, reading the words written: Emily Susan Overland; Loving daughter and sister.

He stands up, sighing as he looks around at the graves of his other family members, most notably his parents. He looks up and sees the moon. It was a full moon that night, and while a normal person would gaze at it in awe, Jack questioned its motives.

"I know you tried to do the right thing by letting me become human again." He begins. "But was it the _only_ thing you could do? Did you have any other choice?"

He walks forward, his staff on his shoulder and wind blowing softly through his white hair. "I'm confused. I know whatever I'm doing is only temporary and soon I'll have to go back to being like this again." He gestures to himself, back in his Jack Frost persona, complete with white hair, blue hoodie, brown pants and paler than pale skin. "But, do I really want to?"

He sets his staff down and uses it for support. "Given a choice, I think I'd prefer to stay here. I have two good friends and I can make a life for myself. I can do something I was unable to. I can grow up, go to college, get a job, and maybe raise a family."

He looks up. "You're very good at keeping your intentions hidden, but if this isn't what you want, then you'd better do something about it, because I'm getting really close to someone, and I'm not sure what I feel for her, but if it goes on any longer, I'm afraid I might not be able to stop."

He takes a deep breath. "Whatever you're trying to do, please do it now."

"Jack?"

He turns around to see the sympathetic face of Tooth, who had become an older sister figure to him. She flew forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, and from the look in her eyes, it's clear that she heard every word.

"I know things may seem confusing now, but you'll know where you belong soon enough." She consoles him.

"And where would that be?" he softly asks.

"With the Guardians." She says, matter-of-factly. "You were chosen for a reason, Jack, and you know why. Those skills can only be useful with us."

He narrows his eyes. "Only with the Guardians?" he asks. "If they're only useful for the Guardians, why did the Moon put me in this position? Why did he make me human?" he demands.

Tooth steps back, a little taken aback by his frustration. "Jack, I was only trying to-"

"-to convince me that I shouldn't stray from my duty." He completes. "This isn't about me. This is about Skylar and Alex, isn't it?" He gives a shaky laugh. "You guys think I'm getting too close to them. You don't think they'll reciprocate the friendship once they find out who I really am."

Tooth opens her mouth, but he stops her. "No, Tooth, I need to say this. I have lied too much to the people who treated me like an actual friend, so that probably says a lot about me. I have probably led one of them on, making her think that I have feelings for her, and this might destroy what we already have. Once they find out, it probably will." He breathes deeply, calming himself down. "I don't think I can go on any longer. I am the worst friend alive and it's eating me out that I can't do anything about it."

The stand in silence for a while, then Tooth speaks up. "Do you?" she asks.

"Hm?"

"Do you have feelings for her?" she asks again.

He avoids her eyes, but knows that he can't deny what's happening to him. He looks up at her and nods.

"And does she reciprocate those feelings?"

He shrugs. "When we last talked about it, she said that she did."

Tooth smiled. "This hasn't happened before, but there's always a first for everything." He looks on, listening. "Maybe, this thing you both have could work after all."

"If she even sees me after this mission is over." He grumbles.

"It doesn't have to be." She says, making Jack look up with a raised eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that the Man in the Moon has his own agenda, and maybe he might just be helping you."

"You think so?" he asks.

She nods. "I'm pretty sure that you didn't meet her by coincidence. The Man in the Moon knew there was something about her, and he sent you to investigate. But, I'm pretty sure that he knew something would go on between you two, and this is all just a part of his plan."

He looks up at the Moon, narrowing his eyes. "I don't want my friendship with her to be part of some _plan_." He growled. "The only request I'd make to the Moon is to stop messing with my life!" Saying so, he lifts off and heads back.

* * *

No matter how much she tries, she just can't get it out of her head.

The first time she saw him was in her dream, and in that dream he had expressed appreciation of her. This time, he had revealed that he enjoyed her fears, and had claimed her. But that wasn't the part she was focusing on.

Her fears? What fears? She knew she wasn't scared in the least. After last year's fiasco, it took a lot to truly scare her now. But, another thought crosses her mind. She had seen this very thing happen to many proud Amazonian warriors who claimed they weren't afraid of anything. That wasn't true, and she remembered something Bruce had told her on coming into the family: _Never say that you have no fear. Fear is what keeps you strong and it is what gives you courage. It sets the limits. Know your fears and embrace them._

Groaning as she rubs her head, she checks the time to see that it's really late, and she should've been in bed an hour ago. So, sighing, she gets into her bed, wrapping the blankets around herself. But still, she just couldn't fall asleep.

And what was worse, she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

* * *

**A/N: So, this is my shot at Jack's past. I'm not really sure that's his sister's full name though, and last time I checked, her official name wasn't given as well, so if anyone could refer me to something a little more official, I'd be glad.**

**And once again, thanks for reading **

**Please review**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Shout out to blackkyu for reviewing the last chapter.**

**And one to all you readers, old and new, who continue to read my story.**

* * *

Chapter 16

* * *

"A cloak? That's your idea of a change of attire?"

She holds the piece of clothing as she looks at her brother with disbelief in her eyes. He takes a deep breath and pauses, as if choosing the right words. "It's for your own safety." He tells her.

"Um, my safety is _fine_, thank you." She says, moving to put it away. But before she can throw it on the couch or anything, he grabs her arm.

"You know why I suggested it." He says. "It's not just now, but in the long run. Now that the news is out that you're the adopted daughter of Bruce Wayne, it can get tricky to walk around with your identity exposed. This is to help keep Wonder Girl's identity safe from the world."

"It's not such a big deal for Zatanna, or Raquel, or Kory, or any of the others." She folds her arms across her chest.

He sighs. "It's not so much of a big deal for them, but it will be if someone draws a connection to you and your identity." He tells her. "It's just a cloak with a hood."

"I don't do hoods."

"But just think about it." He almost pleads. "I'm just asking you to try it on. If you don't like it, that's fine. But just try it on first."

She looks at the garment one more time. It's a red cloak with Wonder Woman's sigil on the back in two golden Ws. It wasn't like it was a _bad_ garment. She knew Alfred probably put in a lot of time and effort to stitch this thing, as far as she could tell from the lovely feel of the fabric between her fingers. Plus, it was also clear that Bruce and Dick had a say in it, since the fabric was made of the same fabric that Robin's cape was made up of; a compound that wasn't heavy and served as a bulletproof shield.

She swings it over her shoulders and ties the thread added to her new and improved suit, which consisted of a spandex-like top with Wonder Woman's symbol in the usual gold and leggings along with boots that came up just under her knee. The cloak did feel nice, flowing all the way down her back to stop a little above her ankles. The hood covered a lot of her face, shielding it from onlookers without proving to be as uncomfortable as a mask. Despite a mask being suggested, she had declined, even with Dick's protests of "You'll get used to it". She didn't do masks.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn't deny that she looked _good_.

"You like it?"

She turns around and is faced with a triumphant grin from Dick's side. Rolling her eyes, she pulls the hood down. "It's _not_ bad." She says, as coolly as possible.

"Mm hmm." He hums. "I knew you'd love it." He says. "See, you've just gotta trust me."

She nodded slightly in agreement.

* * *

As he passes next to the notice boards, he stops as he sees a few kids putting up a huge poster. He tries to step closer, but a flurry of other kids stops him from doing so, crowding around the poster. He hears many guys groan and all of the girls squeal and giggle.

"This just ticks me off."

Okay, maybe not _all_ girls.

"And why is that?"

"Because it's for some dance." Skylar growls, clearly showing her dislike for the event.

"And you'd know that, how?" he asks her.

"Alex's on the Dance Committee." She shrugs. "And what's worse, he talked me into helping them set up the gym for the dance."

He raises an eyebrow as he hides his smirk. "Didn't peg you for the kind that got swayed with words."

She shrugs. "I guess Alex just has a way of turning my own words back onto me."

He chuckles softly. "Man, would I have liked to be a fly on the wall for _that_ conversation."

She playfully smacks him on the arm and he laughs, playfully swatting her arms away. A few moments later though, she sobered and returned to glare at the gym doors. As he also watches, another thought creeps into his mind.

"Hey, have you had any strange feelings since the night you saw that man?"

"If you mean if I've had a constant feeling like something bad's about to happen, then yes, I have." This part, she lowered her voice, and her expression drastically changed.

"Care to describe it?"

"Normally, I wouldn't. But this time, I think I will." She gestures to the outdoor lunchroom, where they hung out at free period and took their lunch to eat from the traditional indoor lunchroom. "It seems like you know a lot more about this than the Team do, so maybe this will help."

She sat down on one table and gestured for him to take the seat across from her. He gladly obliges. "So, now tell me what you're feeling."

"Have you ever heard of the saying that the crow's arrival is a sign of something bad?"

He nods. "I've heard that more times than you can count." He shifts slightly to make himself a little more comfortable, since he knows that this is going to be a long conversation. Luckily, they were on free period, which gave them ample time to talk about this. Just to be sure though, they kept their voices low and kept an eye on any possible eavesdroppers. "Are you saying that the onset of your dreams might be compared to the arrival of the crow?"

Just a day ago, along with informing him of Wonder Girl's change in attire, just so he didn't get too perplexed if she ended up accidently on the news, she had also told him about her dreams. Or rather, her _nightmares_. He had offered his support, and had even given a vague idea that he knew a bit of what was going on. So, the two had been confiding in each other, sharing stories and trying to get down to the root of the problem, or at least see if there was a pattern so they could be prepared. Also, he suspected that she also needed a friend to talk about her nightmares, and he felt closer to her. But somehow, he still had a tingling feeling that she was keeping _something_ from him. Well, if she was, it wasn't going to be unfair, since he was also keeping something from _her_.

She nods. "This whole thing started when I began to have nightmares. It seems only fitting that they could be a connection to that man." She looks up at him. "Any theories?"

"Well, maybe not a theory, but a possible explanation." He turned to see that no one was overhearing and then lowered his voice. "That man you saw was a…acquaintance of mine, if I should use the word _acquaintance_."

"You've met before?"

He nods. "It was a while back, when I was still getting used to the idea of being something more than just what I was. Circumstances had put me and a few similar people on a task to defeat this guy, and I tagged along because of my own motives. However, I ended up messing everything up, which caused them to lose trust in me and I fled."

She simple watches as he takes a pause, trying to think of a good way to say it. "Go on." She urges.

"Well, I can say that I was in a pretty messed up state. My motives had been accomplished, but they had cost me the friendship of others. And as I wallowed in my own self-pity, he came to see me."

She raises her eyes to meet his. "What did he want with you?"

"I'm thinking the same thing he wants from you; _power_."

"Power?"

"Yeah, I had actually been the only one who could stand up to him, and he wanted me on his side. However, I refused his offer, so he broke my staff, and in a way broke me too. But with the help of a friend, I was able to get back upon my feet and fight."

Swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat, he shifted his attention to the girl in front of him. "My guess is that he sees you as a potential ally, and intends to turn you."

"That'll never happen."

"I wouldn't be so overconfident." He narrows his brow. "His power is dark and he can be very persuasive and manipulative when he wants to be. He has a way of making your greatest fears come true and uses that to entice people into his traps." His eyes closed for a moment. "He's a dangerous man, and the fact that he's taken an interest in you worries me."

She smiles, and he feels his heart melt. "You know that I'm a fighter, don't you?"

"I know, but that doesn't stop me from worrying."

She softly chuckled. "You sound just like my brother."

He smiles at that, and then lowers his gaze to suddenly see his hand across the table, holding hers. He had taken her hand in his and was absentmindedly stroking his thumb over her knuckles. Suddenly becoming aware, he stops, and so does she. A slightly alarmed look crosses over her face, and was that a hint of fear? He draws his hand back as she draws hers, and he feels his face getting a bit hot. But luckily it was nothing compared to her face, which was red as a tomato.

"I…I'm sorry." He quickly says.

To his surprise, she laughs. "Don't be." Hearing that makes _him_ smile. "Tim does that all the time."

"Oh good." He smiles. Then another thought crosses his mind. "But every time Tim holds your hand, do you feel the same thing?"

She pauses for a moment and turns so she doesn't look at him. She sighs and looks down. "No." she admits. "But I can't deny that it didn't feel nice."

* * *

"Wonder Girl, suit up!"

She nearly jumps as Dick slams the door behind him. "Dick? What's the matter?"

"Klarion's been spotted." He says, Grabbing a few extra explosives and batarangs. "Alpha Squad is to secure him and bring him back."

"Alpha Squad? Who else is there?" she asks, putting her book down and sitting up on his bed.

"You, me, Tim, Alex and Cassie." He tells her, handing her her suit. "It was a very urgent call and it was too sudden. The five of us are the only ones here, so we'll just have to make do."

Knowing that this was all he'd tell her at the moment, she nods and heads into the bathroom to throw on the garments. Honestly, she's excited for this mission. Not only is this the first she's had in a while, it's also the first in which she'd get to…

"Better hurry up in there." Dick chuckles from the other side of the door. "It's time to test-drive the new suit."

Maybe he knew her better than she thought.

* * *

She crouches with Alex behind a bush, the hood pulled up over her face, restricting her vision. But by now, she doesn't need vision. She can very well hear everything that's going on, and she can even _feel_ it. As long as she concentrates really hard and presses her hands to the ground, she'll do just fine. Now all she needs is for Alex to keep quiet…

"Hey, forgot to tell you that the new suit looks good on you."

And there goes her concentration.

"Thanks, Alex." She forces a smile. "But I doubt this is the time and place for complimenting your date."

"Who said you were my date?" he retorts.

"Then why are we crouched behind a bush like this?" she asks.

"If you two are quite done," she swears that she actually _flinches_ as Dick's voice comes over the comms, "Sensors are indicating Klarion in extremely close proximity."

"How close?" she asks, glad to have a reason to not look at the infuriating speedster beside her.

"He's headed your way." Dick informs her.

Alex scrambles to get up but she pulls him down, and then presses a finger against her comm. "What do you want us to do?"

"Distract him." Dick tells her. "You and Impulse find a way to keep him busy till we get there. We can take it from there."

She turns to Alex and he nods, having got the message. "Roger that." She says. Then, she notices the shape of a pointy haired boy walk past. "Moving to intercept."

Quickly nodding a signal at Alex, who immediately speeds away, she pulls herself off the ground and places a hand on her lasso that's hanging on her hip. But just as she readies it, she feels a cold premonitory shiver that goes down her spine. Surprisingly, she recognizes it, and that scares her. _He_ couldn't be here, now could he? It was too soon for an attack. Jack had said-

Never mind what Jack said. She had to concentrate on the task at hand, which was keeping Klarion's attention, and possibly securing him, until Dick and the others got there. Shaking the fear out of her mind, she steps into the light to see Alex spin a mini tornado around Klarion and knock him down.

"You're Klarion?" he scoffs. "You're much less than what I expected."

The witch-boy laughs. "Appearances can be deceiving, and you should know that better than anyone." He chortles. "After all, isn't it you who walk around pretending to be normal during the day?"

Alex gasps in shock, but what startles her more is when she sees the shadows taking shape of _him_. Right behind Klarion, the shadows of the trees rise up and materialize to form the shape she's feared for the last four days. The shape of the man who had attacked her during the Winter Festival.

The man Jack referred to as Pitch Black.

* * *

Alex steps back in fear as the man rises up out of the shadows. Okay, this was getting really creepy.

"Really, Impulse." The man says, having a smile that could make anyone uncomfortable. "Or is it _Alex_?"

Alex nearly stumbles. He wasn't supposed to know that!

Klarion rubs his palms together. "Is that the girl you were talking about, Pitch?" he asks.

Alex turns around to see Skylar standing there, a look of shock and fear on her face. He tries to yell at her to run, to get out of there, but his voice doesn't seem to work. So he settles on wildly flailing his arms around, gesturing to her to run. But her gaze seemed focused on the other two, and the fact that Klarion had conjured up a red energy field of chaos magic.

"Now's as good a time as any." Klarion grins, holding a swirling red energy ball in his palm. "Is it time?"

The other man nods. "It is time."

Klarion laughs maniacally as he shoots a ball of red energy at Alex that takes the form of a horse. At that moment, all Alex can think of is how his super-speed wasn't useful to get him out of the way in time. How it failed him the one moment he desperately needed it. How it failed him, and in doing so, made him fail his Team, his legacy, everything he ever worked for the moment he pulled on the suit. How he failed his best friend in the whole world.

And that's the last he thinks of anything for the night.

* * *

"Alex! _Alex! _Get up, Alex!" She yells, frantically shaking him.

"It's no use trying to wake him up like that." Dick tells her, putting a hand on her arm and calming her down. She reluctantly lets go of her best friend to hold on to her brother, still trembling as she clutches at his bicep. Tim takes over the examination process as Dick turns and hugs his sister. Still unable to say anything, she buries her face in his chest and stays there, and he lets her stay.

"He's alive." Tim announces, removing two fingers from Alex's wrist. "It's slow, but judging by the steady rise in the pulse rate, he should be waking up right about-"

"_GAH!"_

She jumps and removes herself from her brother as Alex suddenly sits up and lurches forward in shock. She feels joy seep back into her bones as Tim and Cassie calm Alex down and help him get some air.

"Ugh, what happened?" Alex asks, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.

"You were shot by Klarion and some other dude." Tim explains. "You nearly died right there, Alex. You're lucky to be alive."

Dick puts a hand up to silence Tim. When Tim stops talking, Dick leans forward slightly. "How're you feeling?" he asks.

"Lousy." Alex replies.

Skylar breathes a sigh of relief and moves forward. "Well, at least you're alive. That's what matters." She says.

He looks at her, and gives her a strange look. It wasn't a normal sort of strange look; it was more like the look you gave someone who was talking in a different language. And she wasn't sure _why_ he was looking at her like that.

"Well, it's nice that _someone's_ showing such optimism." He says, trying to sit up, but eventually settling on elbow support. "Can I ask you a question?" he asks her.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"Who _are_ you?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, longest chapter I have ever written for this story. **

**But now it's getting to the **_**really**_** interesting part.**

**Please read and review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thanks for the views and reviews on the last chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 17

* * *

She watches the interrogation process from behind a wall, mainly because she just didn't have the heart to face her best friend. Then she reminded herself: her best friend who had no memory of her anymore.

But still, she was interested on hearing his point of view of what happened, and hence stuck around. It wasn't like she didn't want to know about _anything_; she just didn't want to see her best friend treat her like a stranger.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she hears Dick questioning him.

"Well…" Alex hesitates, "I'm not really sure. It's all pretty fuzzy, but I think I saw Klarion shoot at me with energy that looked like a horse."

Silence. It lasts for a very long time, and she can almost picture Dick just _thinking_. At last, though, he breaks the silence, with the one question she doesn't want to hear.

"What do you remember about Skylar?"

Her breath hitches slightly and her heart suddenly feels the need to shoot up and settle at her throat. She doesn't know why, but she prays and _prays_ for Alex not to answer. The last thing she needs to hear is-

"Nothing."

And there went her self-restraint. She clenches her fist and forces down the wave of emotion that threatened to consume her. There was no time for all this. She had to be professional, unemotional, unattached. Too much of this emotion would bring her down, and _then_ she'd be of no use to anybody. At the moment she could still be useful. After all, she was the one who was being targeted in the first place.

"Nothing?" she hears Tim say, "How can you say that? She's your best friend in the whole world!"

"Robin, don't pressure him." Cassie says.

"But how can you guys just accept him saying that?" Tim almost shouts. "Alex, you and Skylar have been the closest for the past year, and the only one who knows more about her than you is Dick himself!"

"_Robin_." It's surprising how one simple word from Dick is enough to bring silence down on everybody. "There's no need to be so forward. Forcing him will not accomplish anything. Let's at least hear what he has to say."

There's a short silence that follows, but then Alex speaks up. "I don't know her at all."

"Do you remember anything about Cassie and Diana's falling out?" Dick asks.

"You mean how they fought and she quit being Wonder Girl?" Alex replies. "That happened about a year ago. Yes, I remember."

"Then do you remember how Wonder Woman took on another protégé?"

"Actually, that wasn't the way it happened the way I remember it."

"Then what did happen the way you remember it?"

"Well, nothing happened. Cassie and Diana fought, and Cassie became her own hero. That's what I remember."

Another bought of silence follows that statement and she averts her gaze to the ground. With difficulty, she tries to swallow the gigantic lump in her throat. She couldn't believe that she still stood there, but after getting a grapple on her emotions, repeating a few "Stay unemotional" mantras and finally finding the strength to look up again, she focused on the conversation again.

"What's the newest thing that happened to you at school this year?" Dick asks.

"Well, I met this guy called Jack." She bites her lip at that. Her best friend remembered _him_, but not _her_? "Nice guy really. We really hit it off ever since he transferred. Oh, and there was the Winter Festival, where I could finally get a date and win by bet against Jack, and most recently we've started setting up the gym for the Winter Formal."

"Do you have any recollection of asking Skylar to help you set up?" Dick's voice had taken a deeper, darker tone. Almost like the voice he used when interrogating criminals. _Almost_.

"No, I decided to set up the gym myself."

"Do you remember making that bet with her?"

"I made that bet with her? No, I made it with Jack!"

"Do you recollect your dog's friendship with hers?"

"Shiloh's her dog? No, she was yours."

"Do you remember anything about Skylar Grayson?"

"I don't know her."

"And do you stand by your statement?"

"Yes."

A very uncomfortable silence occurs after Alex's last word. Even from behind the wall, she can almost picture Tim going silently ballistic, and Cassie trying to calm him down. She, on the other hand, was starting to feel extremely sick. She couldn't believe it at all.

"Look," Alex says, rising, "she seems like a nice girl. But I don't enjoy anybody pressuring me like this. I don't know her. I've never met her. And I honestly can't call a _stranger_ my best friend now, could I?"

That's when she loses it.

Who could blame her? The person who she had called her best friend had said that she was a stranger. Who wouldn't collapse after that? Luckily though, she doesn't collapse. She simply turns and runs to the one place where she feel safe; Dick's room.

She goes inside and throws herself on his bed, burying her face in his pillow and letting the tears stream down. The comforting thing is that the pillow, the bed and the room feel like her brother, the one person who was always there for her, no matter what. She takes comfort in that fact as she lets her emotions pour out. She doesn't care how long she's been in there, but almost a minute later she feels strong, familiar arms around her.

She pulls herself up, and buries her face in her brother's chest. He doesn't say anything, but just hugs her close, trying to comfort her as well as he could. She opens her mouth to ask what happened, but he shushes her with a whisper.

"Not now." He whispers. "Later."

* * *

"So, how bad is it?" she asks in a small voice.

Her brother sighs, looking out at the setting sun. "He doesn't remember _anything_ about you." He states. "It's as bad as it sounds. He's either substituted his memories or just draws a blank wherever you're concerned."

She looks down, hugging her knees to her chest. "I was afraid of that."

He sighs and walks over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "_Vrabia_, this may be hard for you, but you have to stay strong. Something tells me this isn't going to be Klarion's last attack, and it seems he'll do it again. If so, then we'll need all the help we can get, and I'll need you to at least be focused."

She nods, not saying a word. She knows she has to pull herself together. By the looks of it, whatever Jack had warned her about had begun. And if Alex was the first target, she can only imagine that soon they'd be coming for everyone she cared about, mostly Dick. If they did, like Dick said, she needed to be focused.

He lightly squeezes her shoulder. "We'll get through this, you and me." He promises.

* * *

Since nothing exciting or dangerous happened for the past three days, despite how hard they searched, the only thing she could do was focus on helping Alex set up for the Winter Formal. Despite the fact that he seemed a little on edge around her, probably due to all the pressure, he had still agreed to it when she had gone up to him and asked if she could lend an extra pair of hands to the project. That had been the only real conversation the two of them had, but it was something, nonetheless.

The one thing that didn't help matters was that Jack had noticed right off the bat that something was wrong and simply refused to acknowledge that Alex had lost his memories of her. Even now, as they set up the steamers and banners around the gym, he made an effort to get his memories back.

"Okay, so what if we try reliving your good times?" he suggested to the redhead. "I mean, there has to be a trigger of some sort, right? I mean, even people with amnesia have some sort of way to remember."

"Jack, I doubt there is." Alex sighs. "I don't know what it is about everyone, but I doubt there's some kind of trigger for a relationship that wasn't there in the first place."

Jack clenches his fists and almost lets the ladder go, but then again, what would be the point in everything if Alex got himself hurt, right? He looks over to the other side of the gym where she's helping a few of the other kids put up the main banner. She turns back and he meets her eyes, asking her a silent question. She smiles back at him as if to say,_ I'll be fine_.

However, he knew that all was not fine with her.

* * *

"So, they got Alex instead of you, huh?" Jack asks.

She nods, sipping her drink. As soon as she had gone home that day, he had texted her fifteen times telling her that they needed to talk. So, she finally caved, and agreed to meet him at her favorite coffee shop. It was a nice and cozy place, and she knew everyone in there, so it wouldn't be surprising to see someone like her spending time there. Also, with ample space and outside seating, it also served as a good enough place to talk.

"Any theories on why?" she asks.

"I think I have one." He says, leaning forward and lowering his voice. "I think he's trying to get to you through the ones you love. And he's started with your best friend."

"And he may eventually work his way up to my brother." She finishes. He nods grimly.

"This isn't his usual tactic, but it's been used before. He strives to break somebody by taking out the ones they love the most. In your case, he leaves them alive because he knows that that will make you suffer silently, and at some point you'll break."

"Seems like an overused tactic." She comments. "But what would breaking me have anything to do with his ultimate plan?"

"My guess is, to emotionally and mentally break you would make a lot more vulnerable to manipulation. Once a person is broken mentally, the one who puts him back together can always make the necessary changes."

"So, basically, he's trying to break me so that it'll be easier to turn me."

He nods. "Despite how overused it may seem, it's a very effective technique. Another advantage is, the one who's turned has less of a chance of betraying him."

"Well, at least now we know his motives, right?" she tries to be positive. "I mean, now that we know what he's up to, we'll be able to estimate and stop him."

"It only goes so far, Skylar." He says. "I can only _guess_ and _estimate_ based on my own knowledge and experiences with him. If I know any better, his _true_ motives lie deeper."

Then, seeing her sad look, he reaches over and places his hand on hers, lightly squeezing it. "Hey, don't worry. You have me now, and we'll get to the bottom of this. We'll bring Alex's memory back, and when he _does_ remember, I'll smack him right in the head for you, so that he doesn't split his skull."

She laughs lightly.

* * *

Cassie ropes her into going shopping.

According to her, the Winter Formal was coming up, and it would be her first dance in her life. Technically, there was one last year, but that had been spent in escaping from the Court of Owls and then adjusting to the idea of having Nightwing as a brother. This one would be her first one that didn't have any interruptions, and a few of the other girls even asked if she had a date.

She had laughed because she knew that she hadn't met anyone who was bold enough to ask her out, when they knew her overprotective big brother was just two steps ahead.

But she didn't say the _actual_ reason out loud. With something _terrible_ like that happening to Alex, the entire Team had been put on guard, and they were all weary and exhausted as well. Also, she knew that she was hurting and wanted to do something to cheer her up.

So, on the fourth day after the little accident involving Alex, Skylar found herself going through Happy Harbor's open air mall. It had only been three hours and she was spent. She wasn't even interested in dresses. They weren't her type, and she found no appeal for too much jewellery. Besides, nothing in this place fit her style or her taste.

She relays all these complaints to Cassie, who just laughs. "If you think _this_ is tough, you just wait for prom." She chuckles. "Then you'll _really_ have a reason to complain."

Skylar sighs as she goes through the racks, filled with puffy, large dresses. "These aren't anything I'd like to wear." She says. "Who even wears stuff like these? You'd have to be pretty crazy to want to walk around looking like a wedding cake."

Cassie grins. "Of course they aren't. I doubt you'd wear something even similar to that in your life." She leads the younger girl to a different rack filled with trimmer, neater and slimmer dresses. "Check this rack out, maybe you'll find something that fits your taste."

"I seriously doubt that." She mutters, but nevertheless shifts through the clothing.

After about ten minutes, she comes across one that she seems to like. Seeing the contemplative look on her face, Cassie had sent her right into the changing rooms to try it on. Despite the protests coming from the ebony haired girl, the older girl was persuasive, and refused to leave until she had tried the dress on. Hence, Skylar reluctantly removes her comforting jeans and tank to slip the garment on. When she comes out a minute later, Cassie smiles widely.

The sleeveless dress is more of a casual cut, yet still fit for a formal function. It's a slim fit, with a skirt that hangs just above her knees, colored in shades of blue that bring out her eyes. It's pretty and dashing and she feels strangely amazing in it.

"I'm pretty sure I can wear leggings or something under…"

"Don't bother." Cassie says, cutting her off. "It looks beautiful like it is. If I may, this dress is totally you. It's pretty enough to get the boys to glance at you, and conservative enough to not give Dick a heart attack."

Skylar chuckles. "Yeah, I think I really _do_ like this dress."

"That's great." Cassie says. "Now, for the next stop; shoes."

* * *

"Two weeks."

She looks up as Jack drops a pamphlet on the table and pulls up a chair. "Would it hurt to elaborate?"

"Two weeks for the Winter Formal and they're already handing out pamphlets." He says, pointing to the pamphlet which gave the details of the upcoming dance that was now the talk of the school.

"I fail to see the problem in that." She says, picking it up and scanning it.

"The problem is, it's only two weeks away and I don't have a blasted thing to wear." He complains. "Coupled with the fact that _I'm_ in charge of distributing these pamphlets, it's pretty much a disaster. Not to mention that with the dance so close it adds some extra pressures."

"Pressures?" she asks, delighting herself with his agony. "Like what?"

"You don't wanna know." He groans. Then he looks up and another emotion glazes over his eyes. "By the way, how are you and Alex doing?"

Sighing from the change in subject, she looks over to where Alex had pulled up a seat next to some other kids. "What do _you_ think?" she asks.

"Sky, it isn't the end." He softly says, reaching out, but she moves away from him, making him draw his hand back.

"I know it isn't." she says. "Everyone keeps saying the same thing to me, so why wouldn't I know. The only thing that could make this go faster is if Klarion and that other guy make their move already so we can take them down."

He bites his lip at her words. It was already working. "You guys haven't tried, like, _reforming_ your friendship?"

"It's hard to reform a friendship when you have nothing to converse about but the old days."

He clenches his fist under the table, and then he stops himself. Why should he be getting angry at Alex? Okay, if he had to be angry he could be angry at _Pitch_, but not at Alex. _Pitch_ was the one who had caused this to happen. _He_ was the one who was hurting Skylar. _He_ was the one who was making his life miserable. He should be angry at _him_ for doing this to him.

And somehow, he finds himself sharing in Skylar's words. _If only Pitch would hurry up and do something already._

* * *

**A/N: Okay, prepare yourselves, because next chapter onwards is going to be some serious things happening and then the final confrontation. **

**If you guys are wondering, yes the dance has a place in the story. You'll see.**

**Please read and review in the meantime.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the terrible delay in updating this story. My final exams are right around the corner, and I've been having more and more of a time constraint to sit down and write. And I will, until the end of March.**

**So, guys, please bear with me for this one month and I swear, the second my exams are over, you'll get almost weekly updates.**

**Thanks for your cooperation.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 18

* * *

Just as she begins to get used to the delay in their plan, and begins to enjoy what little stability is there in her life right now, another signal comes up. Klarion was spotted once again!

So, the fifth day after "the accident", as they were now calling it, saw Alpha Squad consisting of Wonder Girl, Robin, Cassie and Nightwing hard on Klarion's trail. Because of "complications", as Dick put it, Impulse had been removed from Alpha, on a "temporary" basis.

So, this followed the Alpha Squad team members in the bioship, heading to the location from where they'd begin to track Klarion once again. Or at least that's what Robin and Nightwing would be doing; Cassie had come along as muscle power and Skylar was only brought along because Dick now refused to let her out of his sight lest some weird thing snatch her up or something. And despite how annoyed she pretended to look, she was actually glad he did it, because she didn't know how well she'd fare on her own.

Living with a Bat had taught her many things, like picking up on certain signals that they'd give, and how to even read them to a certain extent. But, one of the most important things that she learnt was to stay out of their way when they were in "detective mode", as Cassie called it, which was precisely what she was doing now, simply standing off to the side as her two brothers scan the area with their holographic computers. Her eyes follow one of them and then shift to the other as they move around in circles, talking some scientific crap that she doesn't understand.

"Are you following any of this?" she leans over and asks Cassie in a low voice.

Cassie shakes her head. "Not a clue." She informs. "But, it's better not to ask and simply follow their orders."

Casting a look at the two males, she nods and agrees with the older girl. Then, a little more shuffling makes her look up and she sees both her brothers walking up to them, each with a grim look on his face. And judging by the look, she mentally prepares herself for any bad news.

"We're gonna have to split up."

Okay, that was really bad.

"We do?" she asks Dick.

"It's the only way we'll be able to ambush Klarion, which leads me to my other point. He's still in this area." Dick tells her.

"Still?" she asks. Somehow, that didn't seem right.

"It's an advantage for us if he's still here. It makes it easier for us to detain him." Tim tells her.

"But are you sure about this?" she asks them. "I mean, doesn't it seem a bit too easy?"

"This is why we're splitting up." Dick responds. "If it really is a trap, then it makes it easier for us to contact base."

_I'm not so sure about this._ But she doesn't say it out loud. Keeping it to herself, her eyes instead flicked up and then she looked down. Either her own backup plan was late, or he simply wasn't showing himself, which she felt was a good decision.

"We're splitting into two teams." Dick went on. "Cassie, you're with me. Wonder Girl, you're going with Robin."

She looked at Tim, who gave her a comforting smile. Of course things would be okay. They were being led by Nightwing, for Hera's sake. What could go wrong?

But the tiny voice of the devil giving her a sinister feeling made her feel glad that she had contacted Jack and told him to stand by the second she had caught wind of something suspicious.

* * *

"I'm still not sure about this."

Tim looks up at her from where he's crouched down behind a bush. "Really? You seemed okay with it before."

"I wasn't." she says. "I just didn't say anything."

"Why?"

"Because I knew that nothing would make Dick change his mind."

He nodded slightly, as if agreeing. "He does get that way sometimes, doesn't he?" he let out a tiny chuckle. "Besides, what would _you_ have done in his place?"

"Me?" she asks, lowering her gaze. "I'd have gotten far, far away from this place."

"You feel something, don't you?" Tim narrows his eyes, as if piecing her thoughts together.

She nods. "There's just something about this whole scenario that's…just…wrong. It's too easy, and I _know_ something's gonna happen."

He opens his mouth to answer her, but a noise from outside cuts him off. He returns his attention to his previous job, and straightens up slightly, telling her that their target was within the vicinity, or more appropriately, he was just about 10 metres away from them. Suddenly feeling a strange sort of feeling pass over her, she realizes that it has something to do with the real threat that Jack had told her about. Scared, she leans forward and tries to get the message across to Tim as quietly as possible, but she finds him already communicating with Dick.

She sighs softly to herself. In many ways, Tim and Dick were more alike than ever. Most notably in the way the two of them could get so focused on a given task, they could miss so many obvious signs.

Then another thought crosses her mind; was _she_ the only one who could sense the fear? Did it mean something? She knew that _he_ had taken a special interest in her, but what was the real reason he was so enamored with her?

"Wonder Girl, time to go!" Tim's whisper cut through her thoughts and brought her back to reality. Shaking her head, she sees him giving her _the_ signal. "Nightwing's authorized capture of the target. If we can't, then all we have to do is stall him. They'll be here soon enough. ETA: 1 minute."

"Quit talking like an effing robot." She growled, a little pissed, pushing past him.

He chuckled softly. "Such language! Where do these kids pick it up?"

She groans softly. "Can we just get this over with?" she asks him. "I don't think I'll relax until we're back home."

He bows. "After you, milady."

* * *

As Klarion comes into view, Tim throws some kind of pellet that emits some kind of greenish gas. Of course, the effect is only momentary, as it quickly fades away into the atmosphere, but that moment was all they needed. Klarion stops his movements for a moment due to the gas, but in that moment, the two step out of the bushes, blocking his way out.

And at that same moment, she spots Nightwing and Cassie running up. She knows she should be relieved that backup was here, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly, terribly wrong.

Maybe that feeling was accelerated by the fact that Klarion was creepily chuckling in front of them.

"So, you finally found me." He chuckles.

"Sorry it took so long." Dick says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let us make it up to you."

"Actually," Klarion replied, turning his eyes onto the four heroes, "you're just in time."

Time literally slows down for her as she watches Klarion straighten up and put his hands out to the sides. The shadows behind him rise up to form the shape of Pitch Black, mirroring Klarion's movements as the dark shadow energy forms around his hands, while red chaos energy flew around Klarion's fingers.

Then, almost in slow motion, she watches the energies mix to form one giant _something_, and then explode over everything.

She suddenly feels chilly, and when her vision clears, she finds that some force had knocked her onto her back. And that was where she lay sprawling on the ground, as a certain brunette stood in front of her with his staff raised, hence forming a sort of force field around them as the dark red energy passed over it.

As realization of the state of the rest of her team sets in, he turns his head partway, sending her a simple message:

_They've been hit._

* * *

The short battle that commenced wasn't enough to keep her attention it seemed, as he quickly finishes driving Klarion and his cat away with a final burst of ice and looks for Pitch. But, it seemed that the second he had entered the picture, Pitch had fled. Klarion, on the other hand, seemed to be a little feistier and actually engaged him in combat. Well, the battle was short and sweet, but as he finishes and turns around, he finds that the only reason that Pitch had actually left was because he had already achieved his purpose.

Basically, the other three members of Skylar's team were all lying on the ground, unconscious.

He moves over to her. "Sorry I didn't get here in time." He tells her as she goes down beside Nightwing.

"It's fine." She says, her voice almost devoid of any emotion.

"Actually, I'm serious." He says. "If I'd been just a little faster…"

"You came right on time, Jack." She tells him, trying to smile at him, but with the current state, it ends up coming off more like a pained grimace.

He opens his mouth to say something else, but then movement brings the attention back to her fallen teammates. Knowing that he couldn't actually stay there, he puts a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "I should get out of here before…"

"…before they awake, yeah." She says. This time though, she gives him a genuine smile.

Giving her shoulder one last squeeze, he takes off into the night, not caring that he hadn't told her that he had flying powers. Well, that would be something for later.

As her attention goes back to her brother, he takes one last look behind him.

* * *

"Dick?" she softly asks.

"Hm?" he asks, rubbing his face. "Sky? Is that you?"

She heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank Hera you're alright." She says. "I almost thought you'd have forgotten me…"

She reaches over to grasp his arm, but suddenly, his face scrunches up with pain and he pulls away. "Are…are you okay?"

"I don't think so." He replies, gritting his teeth. "Could you quickly go check on Tim?"

"Sure."

But, as she stands up and goes to her other brother, she sees the pain leave Dick's face and his body relax. Then, a feeling of complete dread settles over her heart as she sees realization dawn on Dick.

He couldn't be near his sister anymore.

* * *

Just as she suspects, Tim has the same painful reaction as Dick did, which leaves her with one conclusion: being near her brothers made them feel extreme pain and discomfort. And like Dick would put it: heavy on the _dis_.

But what about Cassie? Even she was hit, wasn't she?

But as she approaches Cassie, the former Wonder Girl doesn't show any signs of discomfort or pain, which makes her heave a sigh of relief.

Cassie pulls herself up onto her feet. "You guys okay?"

Tim nods. "Glad you're doing fine." He says.

But before Dick can start his routine debrief, Cassie looks around.

"Hey, um, where'd Skylar go?"

Skylar swears she hears her heart stop for a fraction of a second. "What're you talking about, Cassie? I'm right in front of you," she says.

"No, seriously, guys. Where is she?" Cassie asks the two males.

"She's right there." Tim points out.

Cassie turns to her, but no sign of recognition passes over her face. "Nope, not at all."

With this, Skylar comes to another conclusion: Cassie couldn't see or hear her anymore.

* * *

**A/N: And that was chapter 18, signaling the buildup to the final climax of this entire adventure. Writing this has been fun and I hope you've enjoyed it.**

**Sorry for the short length of this chapter. In my head, it was a lot longer, but it turned out short. Hope this doesn't cause any problems or anything, because this was the point where I wanted to end this chapter.**

**Please review^^**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: This chapter might not be that long, but it's kind of a filler.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 19

* * *

It turns out that this time, the attack was almost global. She figures this out since not only have the ones who accompanied her been affected, but the entire Team has apparently been blasted with their energy.

While half of the Team seemed to have even forgotten that she existed, treating her as if she was a mere ghost or something, the other half simply exploded into rage whenever she was in the vicinity. In fact, they'd get all personal with their insults and just chuck them out left and right, until Nightwing stepped in and separated them. Within a few hours, she resigned herself to staying out of each and everyone's way, saving everyone the trouble of burning energy and herself the trouble of even further heartburn.

In the next two days that followed, she had even stopped going to the Mountain.

Dick tried to be a supportive brother, he really did. He even let her skip school so she could get some time to herself. He invited her for fun things. He tried to sneak into her room at nights. But, as much as she appreciated him for doing all these things, seeing the hurt in his eyes when he was near her was heart-wrenching enough to not see him force out a smile and force himself to hang out with her. So, she tried to have as less contact with him as possible. Same was the situation with Tim.

And as she lay in her bed that night, when she wasn't expecting anything to happen, her phone rang.

She wearily picked it up. "Hello?"

"Skylar? Is that you?" Okay, so _his_ voice was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Jack?"

"Whew. For a moment I thought you were extinct." Was it weird that hearing his voice made her feel just a slightly bit better?

"Seriously, I was worried." He goes on. "I mean, you didn't show up at school today, and you weren't answering any of my texts." Unable to help herself, and filled with joy at hearing a friendly voice, she chokes up. She puts a hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs, which she barely manages to do, since she feels tears sliding down her face rapidly. "Hey, um, are you okay?" His voice gets a bit louder. "Are you crying?"

She quickly wipes her cheeks and takes a deep breath. "No, no, I'm fine." She tries to control the tremble in her voice, but she's not very sure he buys it.

"Are you sure? Do you need me to come down there?" The concern in his tone makes her smile.

"There's no need for you to take the trouble…"

"Who said anything about it being a trouble?" he cuts her off. She hears him sigh at the other end of the line. "Look, I know you're Wonder Girl and all, but you can't always act so tough all the time. You're only human at the end of the day. You've been through too much emotional stress, and it's a wonder you're still holding up." He pauses for a moment. "And there are times when even Wonder Girl needs a friend."

She lets herself chuckle slightly. "I'd really appreciate if you didn't get all sentimental on me…"

"But this is something that needs to be said." Okay, so how is he getting so much free reign to constantly cut her off?

"Skylar, if you need me, I'll be there." He tells her. "But you've gotta let me know if you need me."

"Thanks, Jack." She smiles. "But I think I still have a little more strength left in me."

* * *

She finds herself with nothing to do after dinner, since watching TV, listening to music or playing video games didn't seem very appealing. Plus, with Dick out on some menial crime, she was left at home alone, and the house was too empty, in her opinion.

She settles for sitting on her bed and petting Shiloh. But even after a while that got old. So, she decides to get a breath of fresh air. Getting up and telling the dog to stay, she makes her way to the balcony of her room. Opening the large French window, she's hit with the cool night air and it immediately refreshes her.

She leans on the railing, looking out into the snow-covered city. Somehow, it gives her a sense of peace, just standing there, letting the chilly night breeze touch her face. It felt amazing on her warm skin, and she felt it gave her the necessary cool down she needed.

"Quite a nice night, isn't it?"

She turns her head to see Jack simply sitting on the railing, staff over his shoulder and his usual smile on his face.

"You know falling off that hurts, right?" she asks.

"Nah, I'm used to it." He tells her.

"Seriously, Jack. If you fall, it'll hurt."

Plastering a smirk on his face, he stands up, and then casually jumps down next to her. "Better?"

Rolling her eyes, she turns her gaze back to the view. He takes the message and follows her lead, standing beside her and enjoying the silence.

It is only after about three minutes that he makes any kind of contact. "You doing okay?"

She sighs. "Really, Jack. I'm doing fine."

"You're okay." He repeats. "Sky, you just watched your best friend lose his memory, your brothers unable to interact with you, your 'sister' unable to see you, half the Team acts like you don't exist and the remaining half blows up into a rage every time you're in the vicinity." He counts off on his fingers. Once done, he raises his eyes to meet hers. "How can you possibly be okay after experiencing all that?"

She sighs. "Okay, you caught me." He puts her arms up in defense. "Happy now?"

"What on earth could possible make you believe that I'm happy with you like this?" he asks her.

"Well, you came here for something, right?" she softly growls. "You got me to admit it."

"I came here to help you." He tells her. "I came here to support you like a friend should."

She folds her arms across her chest. "I don't need support." She says. "I need to have the strength to handle this on my own."

"And who said that?"

"I just have to, okay?" she almost snaps. "This whole thing started because of me, and I need to put an end to this."

"You can't take responsibility for everything." He tells her.

"I'm taking responsibility for what I'm responsible for." She says, pulling her arms down to her sides. "When was that ever a wrong thing?"

"When you don't take help when you need it."

She turns away from him, leaning back on the railing. "You need help with this. Why won't you accept it?" he says.

"What's it to you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that my best friend refuses to let me in?"

She groans. "What're you trying to say, Jack?"

"I'm trying to say this."

She suddenly feels his fingers clutching her chin and turning her face towards his own. But before she can comprehend the situation, he crashes his lips down on hers, effectively shutting her up.

Stunned and partly in shock, it takes her a second to realize just what was happening, Jack Overland, one of her best friends, the guy who she secretly admires, was _kissing_ her. He was _kissing_ her! Every cell in her body was about to burst, because he was actually really good at it. The contact sent hot sparks of fire through her body, bringing to light many things which were previously not noticed, like how his lips were both warm and chilly at the same time.

But beyond all the heat and surprise, there was another emotion that he tried to portray; comfort. As his warm hand cupped her cheek, he tried to inform her that he was there for her. He could see her, touch her and remember her.

As she melted into the kiss, hours of frustration and emotion welled up in her chest, clogging her throat up once again.

He broke apart from her and looked at her. "Oh, sorry, I…"

"Don't." she tells him, trying to get him to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes. "Please don't stop."

His eyes soften, and he presses his lips back onto hers, only this time, she also complies and kisses him back.

This one's different from the first one that was heat and passion and feelings left unsaid. This one was more chaste, mellow and _nice_. All they reveled in was the comfort of each other and just being together. He was offering her a shoulder to lean on and she was taking it. It was comfortable and gave her the nudge which she desperately needed. She let the tears fall as her hands made their way around his neck to bring him _closer_, just for the sake of _contact_.

He briefly breaks the kiss and she puts her head on his chest, closing her eyes and only listening to his heartbeat. He tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear and softly whispers to her.

"We'll get through this, you and me. I promise you, I will hunt down Pitch and make him pay for whatever he's done to you."

* * *

She left her door open, so it wasn't really his fault.

He desired to not be that brother, who spied on his sister and was too overprotective of her. She could take care of herself, and he knew that. She asked for her space, and he'd gladly give it to her. What he really wanted was to not become that brother.

But here he was, standing behind the door, watching his sister making out with that…that _guy_!

Okay, so they weren't really making out, but rather just innocently kissing, but even in his mind that was terrible. According to him, she was too young for any of this stuff. If she even had her first kiss, it shouldn't have been with someone like _him_. She shouldn't even be having her first kiss at all.

But despite all the thoughts going through his head, as a million little Dicks ran around in his mind screaming "Alert!", it was happening, and it was happening right in front of him.

So, there Dick stood, arms folded across his chest, and making out a list of different ways to kill Jack Overland.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so this scene was in my head from the very beginning, and even though it was shorter than I expected it to be, I knew I wanted to include it in this story. **

**And Jack better watch out for BigBrother!Dick, huh?**

**Please review^^**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Well, exams are finally over! Can't say how relieved I am right now! **

**This gave me a little more time to develop this story, and I hope you're all enjoying it.**

* * *

Chapter 20

* * *

She can't believe herself.

After her little late night escapade with Jack, which led to one thing after the other, she found herself unable to sleep that night.

Who would anyway?

She tried to get herself to drift off to sleep, but all she could think of was _him_. She thought about his sudden confession, and his even more sudden way of expressing it. No matter how much she tried, her thoughts just kept going back to him. She kept thinking of the way he had tenderly held her in his arms, the way he had softly brushed back her hair, the look in his eyes when he looked at her, as if she was all he could see. Just thinking about that made her heart beat just a little faster, and she found herself with a strange craving to be looked at like that all the time, by his icy blue eyes.

Before today, she hadn't even noticed just how icy his eyes were. So far she had just dismissed them as simply being blue. But tonight had changed everything. She now realized that his eyes weren't simply blue. No, they were ice blue. A few shades lighter than sky blue to give that perfect feeling of ice and snow. When the light hit them just right, they could even look white. She never really realized just how captivating his gaze could be. She wanted to stare into his eyes forever.

_Okay, whoa!_ She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

She turned to her side, pulling the covers tighter around herself, giving herself the excuse that she was too cold. But then, her thoughts went down another road, thinking about how warm and comforting his arms were. This had come as a surprise to her, as she expected him to be freezing cold, like you'd expect with someone who had powers over ice and snow. But, he had felt incredibly warm, and she could easily picture herself in them again.

In fact, she could picture that scenario on this very bed, with him holding her close while she had her back against his chest. When she'd be cold, he'd pull her closer, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist. Then he'd lean over her shoulder as she looked up at him, give her that devilish smirk of his, and then lean down and capture his lips with hers…

_The hell?!_

Her eyes widen at the scene that had been playing through in her mind. Personally, that scared her. Why was she imagining such intimate moments with Jack? Moreover, how was she able to, in the first place? And why was it so easy to imagine it, in such vivid detail? And what was scarier, the fact that she imagined it or the fact that it felt _right_?

She remembered how easy it had been to simply be held by him, as if the place she belonged was in his arms. She couldn't forget the feeling of being held so gingerly by him either. Despite knowledge that she was Wonder girl, he had treated her with affection and care. She wondered if it was wrong to want that again.

Her mind went down the road of her fantasy once again, and she balked when she re-imagined him kissing her. That seemed to be what did it all, and she felt heat rush up to her face as she thought of how he had kissed her just a few hours prior. Her lips still tingled from the sensation, and she softly touched them, as if that would help preserve it or something. Besides, it wasn't that hard to remember it, as she was able to recall the sensation very quickly. She wondered if this was how girls felt after having their first kiss…

_What the hell, Skylar?_ She asks herself. _Pull yourself together!_

Easier said than done.

She held her head with her hands, groaning. "This is ridiculous." She told herself. "I'm acting like a teenage girl with a crush."

_You are a teenage girl with a crush._ The voice in her head reminded her.

Sometimes, she really hated that voice.

* * *

He flies around town, looking for any signs of Pitch. It takes at least an hour before he realizes that he's doing it wrong.

Why would Pitch come to this small town anyway? The previous two times, he'd been spotted in woods and such.

He sighs, running a hand through his white hair. He was going out of it. Maybe he should just give up and head back.

As he makes his way back, his thoughts wander to Pitch and his intentions. Though Pitch had been known to be a ruthless manipulator, he had gone especially far this time. It was considered a big deal if he had gone as far as to seal a deal with a Lord of Chaos like that. Pitch was usually too proud to even use anybody else as a pawn, but he seemed to be using Klarion to his full potential. What would drive him to seek something so powerful and take such a dangerous gamble?

His thoughts then fixate on Pitch's fixation with Skylar. Why was he so fixated on her, that he'd go to the length of giving her so much emotional stress? What was in it for him?

Flinging his staff over his shoulder, he gives a long sigh. He was really getting tired of all this. Why couldn't Pitch just do what he wanted to already?

A thought suddenly striking him, he turns around and takes off for the North Pole, intent on badgering North until he gave him his answer.

* * *

He arrives at the North Pole with a hop, skip and jump.

"North?" he calls into the workshop. "Where are you?"

The old man peeks out from behind a row of red painted robot toys. "Ah, Jack!" he exclaimed happily. "Hope you have good news!"

"Not exactly news…" Jack trails off. "More like I need to know something."

North wraps an arm around Jack's shoulders and guides him to his office. "What you want to know?"

"It's about Pitch." Jack gets straight to the point. "I need to know about his previous life, and I need to know everything."

* * *

He sets himself down on the frosty road, thinking over his conversation with North less than an hour ago. Most of the stuff was extremely interesting indeed, but then North had told him that the only person who truly knew Pitch was the Man in the Moon himself. He slowly walked on, thinking of the best ways to get the Man in the Moon out of the Moon so that he could interrogate him. But, the only thing he overlooked was that he was so preoccupied, he had forgotten just where he had landed.

And he only realized it until too late.

"Jack?"

He turns around, not expecting to hear that voice, and even more surprised to see the person, that he wondered whether this was a dream. But as much as he'd like it to be, this was real. Standing in front of him, dressed in winter clothing and still carrying a depressed air around her, was Skylar.

And she was seeing him in his Jack Frost persona, complete with blue hoodie, white hair and walking barefoot in the snow.

He steps back slightly, just as shocked as she was. "You can see me?" he asks.

"Am I not supposed to see you?" she asked. "And what's with that outfit? And why is your hair white?"

He puts his hands up in defense. "It's a long story." He tells her.

She cuts him off and moves closer to him, piecing together all the info from the book she had read not too long ago. "You're Jack Frost, aren't you?" she whispered.

He opens his mouth to retaliate, but then simply sighs. "Yes." He says.

"You said you were a meta." She said.

"Technically, I am." He forms the snowflakes once again, but she pushes his hand away.

"You're a spirit." She says, almost in a trance. "You're not even alive."

"Technically, I am." He reminds her once again by touching her face, but she moves away.

"We agreed no more secrets between us." She said, hurt evident in her voice.

He began to panic in his mind. "Yes, we did." He says. "I…um…was just…um…"

The betrayed look in her eyes suddenly hardens, changing into anger and irritation. "You were just having me on." She concluded.

"No! I wasn't!" he protests.

"It was all a lie, wasn't it? Everything you've said, and done was all to get me to trust you." She decided, ignoring his flailing hands. "You tricked me."

"No!" he protested. "I wasn't trying to trick you at all!"

"Then why did you lie to me?" she demanded.

"I…I…I had to." He admitted.

She gave a small, harsh laugh. "I knew it. You really _were_ trying to lead me on." She turns around in anger and he swears he sees tears in her eyes. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for a guy like you." Saying so, she storms off.

* * *

He makes to go after her when he feels a hand on his arm. He turns around to see Tooth, looking at him with a sympathetic expression.

"She won't listen to reason, Jack." She says.

He pulls his arm from her grasp. "I'll have to talk to her." He says. "Even if she won't see, I'll _make_ her see."

Tooth shook her head. "She's not in the mental state to do anything right now." She explains. "No matter what you say or do, you _did_ lie to her, and she feels betrayed. In her present condition, she's even more unlikely to hear you out."

He sighs. "Maybe you're right." He reluctantly lets the staff hang limply by his side. "I'm going back on patrol." He takes off into the air, not really caring for his destination, but just for the sake of putting some distance between himself and Skylar.

Tooth sighed. "This is why relationships with mortals are forbidden."

* * *

**A/N: Well? How'd you like it?**

**I know she's acting like a jerk, but she's not in her right mind. **

**The climax is quickly approaching, and you guys better prepare yourselves for it. I plan to update at least weekly once now.**

**Please read and review.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Does anyone even read these notes? **

**But I can give a shout out to all you amazing folks out there, who continue to read and support my story.**

**Really hope you're enjoying the story so far.**

* * *

Chapter 21

* * *

"We warned ya, mate."

"Yes, I know, I know. No need to rub it in!"

The four Guardians look at the Guardian of Fun, now more of a Guardian of Depression and General Pissed-Off-Ness. At the moment, he was sitting on the window sill of a large window available at North's Workshop, a dark and gloomy air about him. Of course, who could blame him?

Sandy, not knowing what to do, flew over to Jack's side, but balked and retreated when faced with a seriously dark glare from the winter spirit's side. North kept quiet throughout this entire charade and simply observed. Bunny adopted the position of telling Jack off for letting his emotions get involved, and get involved badly. Tooth would try to calm him down, but if anything, it seemed she was just making it worse, considering Jack's reaction.

He turns back to looking at the vast landscape of the North Pole, just staring at the white snow and contemplating about absolutely nothing. His friends began to get fidgety about the awkward silence that had befallen once more.

Tooth stepped forward one more time. "Jack, I know you're in emotional turmoil right now…" she begins, continuing after he made no attempt to stop her. "But we have to work together to find out Pitch's next move before he strikes again."

"We will." He cuts her off this time. His fists clench where they were in his jacket pockets. "I'll find him…and I'll make him _pay_ for what he did."

Bunny sighs. "Look, Jack, you can't be hung up about a mortal-"

"I'm not hung up over her." He snaps. After a couple of moments though, he sighs and goes back to looking out of the window. "But I can't deny that she didn't mean anything to me."

Tooth places a hand on his arm. "Jack…"

"She was a friend of mine." He says. "Pitch hurt a friend of mine, so he'll pay for that."

"Well, let us focus on Pitch and his next plan." North says, trying to break the silence. "Jack, what be his next move?"

"I'm not sure about his next move." Jack admits. "But at least we know what he's up to."

* * *

She's starting to believe herself less and less each passing minute.

Seriously, crying over a guy? She knows she can do better.

But, if it's _that_ guy, and just _what_ he'd done, she feels her chest tightening and buries her face in her pillow again. She feels depressed and disgusting. Her face feels really hot and her cheeks are wet. Her eyes feel red from crying and suddenly feel over-sensitive to the light. Her nose feels blocked, and she resorts to breathing out of her mouth. She feels drained of any energy in her body and her head is filled with depressing and dark thoughts.

If a simple guy can do this to her, then she doesn't know what she can do.

Well, he's not some _simple guy_. More like an immortal spirit of winter and the Guardian of Fun.

She clenches her fist thinking about it, and her eyes water up once more. She doesn't want to feel this way again, because it makes her feel weak and helpless. She goes over in her head why she was in this state again. Oh yeah, _him_.

They had agreed that there were no secrets between them, and she had trusted him. She had told him about her secret identity. She had confided in him, and he was the shoulder she had leaned on when Alex first lost his memories. After that, she had relied on him more and more as the Team became affected with the strange symptoms. She had held onto him and had used him as an emotional crutch. And somehow, along the way, she had fallen for him.

But as she thinks about it, the more she convinces herself that it was just a fluke. _There was really nothing in it, Skylar._ She tells herself. _You were confused and emotional and sad, and he gave you comfort. That confused you into thinking that you had feelings for him. You just clung to him when others weren't available. He was good, nice and familiar. There were no romantic feelings involved, and you just confused yourself._

He was familiar, alright. He was nice, and sweet and caring and everything that 90% of the guys in her school weren't. Everything he did, he did it with his friends in mind. She recalled all the times they had spent together, including the one time that Alex wasn't available so the two of them hung out. Did she feel these exact same feelings then? Perhaps a little. But that didn't count, as he was just the easiest target to have a crush on, as he was within her age group, had a great personality, and wasn't all that bad on the eyes as well. She was a teenage girl with flailing hormones and he was just the easiest target to focus them on.

She sighs. Seems that he wasn't the only one in the wrong. She had done an equally bad thing; she had used him. Why? Because she needed someone to be her emotional crutch and her standard love interest in the train wreck that was her life. She needed someone to lift her spirits when she was down, and let her cry on their shoulder when she couldn't hold it in anymore.

She laughs bitterly. She had used him for her own selfish reasons. Guess that balanced out the thing that he did.

But she still couldn't get over the fact that he _lied_ to her. Well, knowing him, there had to be a specific reason, but in her current, sad state, she felt it easier to believe that he didn't care for her as much as she hoped he would. At the end of the day, she was just some mortal girl, and he was an immortal spirit. Recalling his fun for games, she convinces herself that she was just that to him; a game. All this time, he had simply been toying with her.

She felt the sadness in her heart make way for another emotion; rage. She was angry. She was angry at Pitch for doing this to her, she was angry at Jack for lying to her, she was angry at the gods for letting such things happen to her, and she was angry at the world for doing nothing.

She made her decision then; she wouldn't rely on anyone ever again. She was freaking Wonder Girl, for God's sake. What would she be if she couldn't handle some little emotional turmoil? Well, she wasn't going to let this affect her again. She was raised as an Amazonian, and their first belief was to never rely on anyone but you.

She picks up her phone and scrolls down her contacts, her finger stopping on the contact "Jack Overland". She stares at the name for a little while before selecting it, and she stares at his number for a while. Gathering up her courage, she presses the "Delete" option.

The pop up then appears, asking her if she was sure she wanted to delete that particular contact from her contact list. She looks at the two options, and at first her finger automatically rushes to the "No" option, but before she can press it down she stops herself. She moves her finger to hover over the "Yes" option, repeating her inner conversation over and over in her head, finally gathering up the courage to press her finger down on the screen. But two seconds before her finger can touch the screen, her phone rings, startling her.

She nearly drops the phone, but grabs it before it can smash. Without checking the number, she presses the "Answer" option and picks it up. "Hello?"

"Sky? Is it you?"

She freezes on hearing that voice. It was the last voice she wanted to hear, and it immediately fills her with anger and sadness and depression. "Jack?"

She hears him sigh breathily on the other end of the line. "Thank God I was able to reach you." She notes that he sounds relieved. "I need you to hear me out."

Her fist tightens. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I need you to." She raises an eyebrow in question, but doesn't say anything. "Look, I know I'm the last person you want to be talking to right now, but I figure this concerns you, because it's about your case. And besides, don't you have something you wish to protect?"

She ponders over his last question for a few minutes, before going back. "Go on." She says, just managing to keep the hostility out of her voice.

"We know what Pitch is after." He tells her. "Using that, we've tracked down his location, and we're going to put an end to this. But we can't do it alone, since Klarion's also going to be there. We were hoping that if you could tip off some of the Team they could come to this location and –"

"Wait." She cuts him off. "When you say 'we', what does that mean?"

"The Guardians." He says, simply. "They're the only ones who can put down Pitch, but they're powerless against Klarion. Maybe you could-"

"What's your location?" she asks. "In fact, what's Pitch's location?"

"Yellowstone." He says. "Actually, on the outskirts of it. There's an abandoned building over there; should be easy to find. We haven't reached yet, but we're on our way."

"Good." She says. "Don't do anything there. Once you reach, just stay put. I'm sending for backup."

"Right." He says. "Hey," his voice takes a softer tone, "thanks a lot. You're the best."

Unable to take his casual praise, she hangs up on him. She feels angry at herself for feeling tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Quickly wiping them away, she searches the internet for abandoned buildings on the outskirts of Yellowstone. To her luck, she finds it, and its coordinates. Feeling triumphant, she pulls herself off the bed and heads to her closet.

She opens it and stares at the Wonder Girl uniform.

_Don't you have something you wish to protect?_

She thought about Diana and Cassie, her first role-models. She thought about Dick, the kind and caring big brother who was extremely patient with her on all issues and was there when she needed him. She thought about Tim, sweet, sweet, dorky Tim, who never failed to make her laugh. She thought about Bruce, who had adopted her in her time of need, and had given her valuable advice. She thought about Alfred, who was always so polite and generous, and always kept her favorite dishes in mind. She thought about her family, who always welcomed her with open arms, who cared for her like no one else, who loved her like no other.

Did she have something she wished to protect? The answer was yes.

Her family did all they could to protect her and safeguard her. She wanted to do something in return. She wanted to make them feel as happy as she did when she saw them. She wanted them to feel as safe and secure as she did when she was with them. She wanted to preserve those smiles that they always gave her when she had done something worth smiling about. She wanted to safeguard their lives, as they'd always safeguarded hers.

She wanted to protect her family. And she would go to great lengths to do it.

Her gaze turned back to the golden Ws on her uniform. They stood for all she believed in and fought for. The legacy of Wonder Girl. And she would proudly wear this symbol on her chest, and make all onlookers stare in awe. She would make her predecessors proud. And most importantly, she would protect the ones she held closest to her heart.

Making her decision, she pulls the uniform off its hanger.

* * *

**A/N: I'm now not even thinking about chapter lengths, because I'm getting close to what I wanted to show all of you. **

**The huge climax is slowly nearing, I'd say within the next two or three chapters. Hope you're enjoying this story and I love it when you guys review.**

**Please review. **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I am so sorry that I didn't update for a while! My life was in a mess when I slipped into a state of semi-depression and had to come out of it. I also lost my inspiration to write this story, but regained it when I watched RotG again. **

**I will finish this story!**

* * *

Chapter 22

* * *

_Don't do anything stupid._

He had told her that time and time again. It was the first thing he'd tell her before any mission, before any stakeout, before any event. It was also the first thing he'd tell her every morning right before she left for school. Even when she was tasked with the boring task of monitor duty at the Cave, he'd say it to her before he left, which in most cases he didn't. He didn't trust her with a piece of machinery that controlled the entire Cave, and she felt that was smart. If it was him, he'd take over her shift too, but since regulations called for every Team member to have monitor duty, he would content himself with keeping an eye on her the whole night, meaning sitting in a chair with his feet propped up on the desk, casually chewing on something while he kept his eyes trained on her.

And that would always drive her nuts.

It wasn't like she didn't know her brother's intentions, she did. He loved her and wanted to keep her safe. Sadly, she seemed to be a magnet for trouble, getting herself into so-called "situations" wherever she went. She figured that he would be sick with worry and that would add a few extra grey hairs to his scalp.

She appreciated whatever he had done for her. She just wished he wasn't so damn overprotective all the time.

However, even if he was overprotective, he did always teach her to solve her problems, not wait around for other people to solve them for her. Of course, she knew this already. And in any normal situation, she'd only go to him for advice. However, this was no normal situation.

She had realized a while back that the Team's help might be needed, but she herself needed to solve a problem. She decided to send a message to the Cave once she had reached. Even if they hurried, they wouldn't arrive right away. It would give her plenty of time to settle her scores.

As she punched in the coordinates in the abandoned phone box, the small part of her that was still rational whispered to her. It asked her how she planned to fight in her current state. She paused for a moment and thought about it. It was way too late for her to go back, even though she told herself it was too easy. All she had to do was turn around and go back home, probably call the Team to go to Jack's aid. They could handle it, and she wouldn't even have to lift a finger.

But then she recalled how much she hated wallowing in self-pity. And she had already made up her mind about this. To her, there was no turning back.

In her mind, she quickly apologized to Dick. She would be doing something incredibly stupid for once.

She reaches the abandoned phone booth almost instantly, but heading over to the national park and tracking down that building took a while. She still didn't send a signal to the Team, mostly because she had forgotten to. Once she realized though, she was halfway to the building Jack had been talking about. She shrugged it off and decided to send it once she got there.

Once she came in view of the building, which seemed to have a strange air around it, she paused. That air around the building was giving off the same feeling as all her previous encounters. It gave off that chilly, dark feel, sending shivers down her spine. She pressed her finger to the emblem on her chest, making her uniform turn into a mixture of grays and blacks. As the feeling of caution washed over her, she unclenched her fist. As she neared it, the feelings intensified, so she pulled her hood a little more over her eyes.

She slipped into the nearest foliage and soon found herself on a branch high enough to give her a good view of the building. She knew she had to go in, but something kept her alert, something that told her not to go in just yet.

"Skylar? Is that you?"

She nearly jumps at the voice and turns around. Standing on the branch is Jack, well, Jack Frost. He was in his persona, and she noted how different he seemed to what she was used to. His skin was extremely pale, and his hair was pure white. That coupled with his ice blue eyes made him look exactly like what he was, she mused, a winter spirit. The only thing that hadn't changed was his eyes, she realized. Looking at them, she had at least a small shred of hope that her Jack was standing in front of her. Judging from the look on his face, he didn't expect her to be there.

Seeing him again prompted a flood of emotions to pour out from her heart. Everything she had felt, or rather, forced herself to feel, began to fill her up. She felt herself fill with anger, rage and betrayal. And just as suddenly as they came, they dissipated. Looking at him now, she realized that in no way could she bring herself to hate him. It seemed her feelings ran much, much deeper.

She pushed the emotion clogging up her throat and forced a smile. "Hey."

* * *

"So, why are you out here anyway?" he asks her.

She plays with her fingers, not directly looking up at him. "I couldn't sit by anymore."

"Really?"

He had taken a seat beside her, and the two of them were sitting on the branch in stakeout. This gave them some time to talk.

"Yeah." She says. "I realized that I couldn't wait on the sidelines as Pitch and Klarion take out the ones closest to me. His battle is with me, for some reason. However, if he wants to fight, I'm glad to oblige."

"Why?" he asks slowly.

"Because fighting is what I do best." She says, turning to him, a fire glowing in her eyes.

He smiles, and turns back to looking at the building. "This seems really familiar." He says.

"Familiar?"

He nodded. "In my…previous life, I enjoyed climbing trees, a lot. And the day I died, when I was raised as Jack Frost, I was on a similar tree to this one when I saw a village. Of course, my memories of my life had been lost, and I had no idea what it was, but it was there that I realized that no one could see me." As he talked, she saw a sad look appear in his eyes.

"How did you die?" she asks.

He chuckles. "If we survive tonight, and if you don't throw me out of your life, someday I'll tell you how I died."

"Why not tonight?" she asks. "Why not now?"

"It's not the right time." He says. "If I can ask anything of you, don't die tonight."

"I won't." she says. "It takes a lot to kill me off."

"That's good." He says. "Because if you die, then I won't be able to tell you about me, the _real_ me."

She feels the blood rush to her face, and turns away. She pulls her hood forward, shielding her face.

But then, she feels his fingers pull her hood back, exposing her entire face and head. "I don't like the hood." He softly tells her. "It covers up your face."

She points her eyes downward, so as to avoid his intense gaze. "There's something called a secret identity." She says. "I need the hood for that."

"Not with me, you don't." he says. "I know who you are, remember?"

She sighs, allowing a smile to pull at the edges of her lips. "I guess."

It didn't help that Jack was intently gazing at her, and was surprisingly silent for a while. She adjusted the hood so that it was more comfortable. She bit her lip, thinking of what she wanted to say next. There was a lot she wanted to say to him. A lot had happened between them, and there was a lot they needed to address. The first thing that came to her mind was their kiss. They needed to talk about the kiss, and what came after. Even though she felt awkward about it, she knew they'd have to talk about it sometime.

He seemed to be having the same thoughts, because when she turned to initiate the conversation, so did he. "Hey…um…" They both ended up saying.

She gives a small laugh at how awkward the situation immediately becomes. He grins as well, and the two share a light moment. She smiles at how comfortable she feels, and almost scoffs at how she forced herself to believe that he was using her. Judging by how he was talking to her, she can only believe that he genuinely cared about her.

She raises her eyes to meet his, and something overtakes her. As her heart beat in her ears, he reaches out and strokes a lock of her hair. That intimate gesture itself says everything that needed to be said from his side.

He then leant in, and as if by a reflex, she did too. The rational part of her brain screamed at her not to do it, as it would just make everything more complicated. And anyway, if she didn't survive tonight, things would be pretty awkward and such.

She pushed that voice away, telling herself that if she did die tonight, at least she would die happy.

When their lips were just inches apart, she closed her eyes and waited for the collision. But literally two seconds before, a blast from the building startles them both, making them draw back. She looks over at the building to see a small cloud of smoke come out of one of the windows.

Sharing a quick look at Jack, she jumps down.

* * *

She approaches the door when he catches hold of her arm. "I don't think we should go in there without backup." He says.

"Oh, right." She says. She reaches into her belt and pulls out a communicator and presses it into his palm. "This sends a distress signal to the Cave, along with the exact coordinates. You'll have to tap it twice. Use this to contact the Team. You won't even have to say anything. They'll be here as soon as they can."

"What?" he asks. "You're going in there alone?" The disbelief in his voice is evident. "No way you aren't."

"How much longer will it be before the Guardians are here?" she asks him, ignoring his protests. "I'm going in. You wait here for them, and when they arrive, bring them inside. I'll stall Pitch till then."

He shakes his head, knowing what she's about to do. "This is suicide!" he exclaimed. "I can't let you do this alone."

"I'm _not_ alone." She reminded him. "I have you watching my back, won't I?"

He opens his mouth to say more, but then closes it when he realizes that once she sets her mind to something, she doesn't give up. He sighs. "Just please don't die." He pleads.

She nods. Sharing one last look with him, she pushed open the door of the building and walks in.

She then turns around to see the door shut behind her, engulfing her in darkness.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter may not be the longest, but it is definitely one of my favorites. And ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our CLIMAX! The next two or three chapters will be the finale, and will spark the end of this tale.**

**Hope you liked it. Please review.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Yay! New chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

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Chapter 23

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She pulls the hood up as far as it would go, so that it cast a shadow over her face. Well, not that she needed to; since the place was so dark she couldn't really see well in front of her. If she couldn't see two feet in front of her, she doubted that anyone would be able to see her unless they were really alert. However, not being seen and seeing where you went were two different things.

She knew that the Bats had a built in night-vision tech in their masks, which would enable them to see in the dark, and offer them an advantage, since they mostly "lived during the dark". In fact, Dick had offered her the in-built gadgets and gizmos when he had pitched the mask with the new suit. She had immediately denied it, seeing as she didn't like masks. He had actually protested, "It makes you look mysterious and sexy", before stopping and considering his words. But she had got the message and denied it.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Luckily, Dick had proposed a good enough alternative for that; contacts. He had floated over a couple of contact lenses that contained all the gadgetry and visual assistance that the masks afforded them. He had said that Tim had been testing them for a few weeks, and that they were pretty good. He had wanted her to be fully equipped, so if she denied the mask, maybe this would be a better option.

He was right, it was.

Quickly blinking in the Morse code command, the area in front of her is suddenly lit up in night vision lighting. Sending a silent thanks to her family, she begins to look around. She notes that the building seems not only abandoned, but broken down as well. There's signs of some ancient struggle all around her; smashed windows, broken furniture, all covered by a thin layer of dust and cobwebs. However, she does notice footprints in the dust, which were definitely not her own. So, that confirmed her suspicions that she was on the right track. She sticks to the shadows as she follows the barely noticeable trail.

She places a hand over her mouth, trying not to breathe in the rancid air that is most likely poisoned. She walks, hearing the broken down building make light creaking noises under her boots. As she goes forward, she notices the furniture start to lessen, and the dust start to increase.

She soon comes up into a room, seemingly the lobby of the building to find that it is empty. Apart from the small counter built into the side of the room, the room is devoid of any furniture and any color that it may have had is worn out and replaced with the grays and brown of dust. Rats and spiders scuttled away from her approaching feet and ran to the dark corners.

"Seems no one's used this place in a long while." She muttered to herself.

"Thirty years. Not very long, to be honest, but definitely long for you."

A crawling sensation occurs under her skin as her breath catches in her throat for a second. She recognized that voice. She recognized it very well.

She whips around to see two men standing there, one shrouded in darkness and the other stroking an orange tabby cat. However, she didn't need any introductions. She recognized one from the files at the Cave and the other from her dreams. Unknowingly, she clenches her fist and tightens her jaw; just being in their presence was enough to light a spark of anger in her.

"Klarion…and Pitch Black."

Pitch slowly stepped out of the shadows, letting the light fall on a slanted and angular face, with golden orbs gleaming from dark skin, giving her the impression of night. "I hadn't realized we had already met." He said. "But I expect your friend Jack must have told you a lot about me."

"Oh you have no idea." She growled under her breath, feeling the pits of fire boil in her stomach. This man, the same man standing in front of her, had caused her so much heartache and heartburn that she wasn't going to just let him go tonight. Tonight, he was going to see the consequences of messing and pissing off Wonder Girl.

Klarion groaned out beside Pitch. "Can we just skip the festivities?" he asked. "I really want to torture her."

"Try your best, Witch Boy." She spits out his name, taking her stance and waiting for him to initiate the battle.

The cat, who she guessed was Teekl from reading Klarion's file, gave a delighted purr, as if the prospect of seeing his master and her fighting was either extremely amusing or extremely interesting. It stood up, arched its back, and leaped down from Klarion's arms, giving a small sneeze as the rising dust tickled its nose. It then trotted away into a corner, setting itself down as if to enjoy the show. It pissed her off so much to see it do that, as if it was here attending a movie or a school play, she wondered (sarcastically) why it didn't just grab a bowl of popcorn for itself, or maybe even a can of Diet Coke or something.

Suddenly, a blast of red chaos energy knocks her backward and onto the ground. She then realized her mistake, focusing on the seemingly harmless cat rather than its extremely powerful owner who so just happened to be a Lord of Chaos. And Klarion had taken advantage of that fact and had started off the battle, just barely giving her time to throw her arms up and use her bracelets. Still, like they would work on chaos energy.

She quickly gets herself off the ground and leaps, avoiding another blast of chaos energy. She hovers in the air for a few moments, quickly staking out Klarion's position. The Witch Boy was standing on the ground (obviously), his hands glimmering with chaos energy and staring up at her, waiting for her to make a move, just as she was waiting for his move.

Tiring of waiting, Klarion then launched another stream of his power in her direction, which she swerved to avoid. Grabbing the counter, she ripped it from the wall, ignoring the rumble of protest that echoed throughout the building. She threw it in Klarion's direction, and the Lord of Chaos blasted it to bits using his chaos energy. As the haze and bits cleared, Skylar flings a punch in his direction, her fist colliding with his face and sending him flying backwards and slamming onto the ground with a satisfying crunch. Judging from the immediate hiss that emanates from the corner, apparently Teekl didn't really like that. Turning, she gets ready to deal with Pitch, but finds that the King of Nightmares seemed to have disappeared into the darkness of the room.

At that very moment, something slams into her and knocks her down. Before she can gather herself, another thing slams into her, taking her breath away, and returns to slam into her at least three times in her abdominal region. Each thing just takes more and more of her breath away, and soon enough she's lying on the floor on her hands and knees, coughing out small specks of blood and she struggles to catch her breath. She can guess that she has at least two cracked ribs from the intense pain she was feeling, and she raises her head to see just what had affected her so, and her eyes widen when she sees Pitch standing in front of her, two figures on either side of him. As her vision collects, she sees the figures are made out of black sand (for some reason), and resemble black horses with glowing gold eyes, kind of similar to Pitch. She immediately pieces the situation together, and realizes that she may just have bitten off more than she could chew this time.

"Nightmares." She whispered, before coughing out a small spot of blood.

"You're smarter than you look." Pitch chuckled, his deep voice striking absolute _fear_ in her heart. He petted the one on his right. "These two are really special. You know why?" Softly growling under her breath, she shakes her head, blue orbs never leaving the two horses. "These two were created out of _your_ nightmares."

Her eyes widen. "That's…that's not possible." She chokes out.

He laughs. "I thought you might be more able to believe. After all, you've probably seen stranger things in your line of work." Suddenly, her hood is swiped back and her head is exposed. It doesn't take enough time for the shock to even register that she had been unmasked in the presence of Klarion, who apparently seemed a little confused about her identity. Before the situation settles in her mind, she sees another Nightmare walk up to Pitch and she sees him dismiss it with a wave of his hand. He turns back to her, the two Nightmares on either side of him seemingly becoming more and more interested in consuming her.

"These two Nightmares are the manifestations of your own nightmares, and every dark thought you ever had." He turned and stroked the one of his right. "And oh, did they have a story to tell about you. Skylar Grayson, seemingly normal teenage high schooler, but on the other side, flying superhero Wonder Girl. Once forced into nearly assassinating your brother, you still have the urges to this day. You were mind-washed, and it is something that will never go away, is it?"

She grits her teeth, trying not to believe whatever he was saying. However, she found that she couldn't. Everything he said, was right on target. Ever since her forced recruitment into the League of Assassins, it had opened up a dark side of her, one that she was aware of, every single day. It was there, no matter how much she tried to be true to herself, no matter how much she tried to deny all the dark thoughts that would once in a while make their way into her head. She gripped her arm, knowing that despite everything Diana and the Amazons had taught her, she had a dark side, and it would always be there, no matter what she did. "They're also a manifestation of your fears." Pitch continued. "Every single thing you thought of and were afraid of. You're afraid of losing your family, of losing their approval, of watching them die and being helpless to stop it." He chuckled. "You're an interesting one, alright. I am so glad I chose you."

She tries to move forward, but black ropes come out of the shadows and wrap around her hands and legs, lifting her up and holding her in front of Pitch. They had a pretty strong grip, she mused. Despite how much she struggled, they just tightened their grip on her and began to harden, becoming more and more like solid rock every second. She tries to use her full might, but it doesn't work, and only after a few moments does she realize that it isn't just holding her, it's absorbing her power.

She begins to feel the slight pressure on her chest, making her feel tired. Soon enough, she begins to pant and exhale through her mouth. "What are you doing to me?" she growled at Pitch.

Pitch smiles. "If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now, would it?" she said in a voice as smooth as silk, that's on a stove switched on.

Klarion gets to his feet and comes up beside Pitch, gleefully rubbing his palms. "Ooh, is it starting?" he asks. "I'm so excited."

"Let's see you act that excited when I get out of this." Skylar growls, straining at her bonds, but to no avail. She eventually gives up and goes limp. "They should really upgrade these charms. I'm getting tied up way more times than I like." She mutters. Then, her attention is brought back to the fact that she feels like she weighs a hundred pounds right now.

With a lot of effort, she raises her eyes to meet Pitch's. "What do you want from me, Pitch?" she asks, voice strained and heavy.

Pitch turns and walks a little way away. "What I want from you is something you cannot give me yourself, but rather, something that I must take for myself." He then turns and meets her eyes. "Of course, I know you would relate if I told you, but then again, you might not." He gave a small chuckle to himself as his Nightmares began to advance. "But wouldn't you do the same thing?" he suddenly asks, looking into her eyes. "What wouldn't you do for the one you love?"

Her mouth drops open slightly at his question. "What do you mean, Pitch?"

"What wouldn't you do for someone you love?" he asks again.

She ends up pondering on his question. What wouldn't she do for someone she loved? That answer was obvious; anything. If someone she cared for was in danger, she'd do anything to make sure that they were safe. She'd do anything for someone she loved; like Dick, Tim, Bruce, Alfred, Barbara….

"Then I'm sure you won't be too angry with me for doing this." He says. "But then again, consent wasn't something that I was looking for in the first place." He looks to his two Nightmares. "Begin."

The Nightmares charge towards her, dissipating into smoke as they neared her, but very visible smoke. The two smoke trails begin circling her, and she begins to feel electricity pass through her body. The Nightmares then tighten around her body, swirling and moving continuously, slowly moving up to her face. She could feel the fingers of the black sand slowly inch up her neck and starting to touch her face. Then, sharp, _excruciating_ pain engulfs her and she begins to scream.

She barely registers another presence, but all she hears through the pain is five simple words;

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

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**A/N: This has got to be my favorite chapter to write, especially the latter parts. But don't worry, it isn't over yet.**

**And I just wanted to clarify that I hadn't really given enough of a nod to the previous story, hence bringing up Skylar's dark side. To make it clear, yes, I know everyone has a dark side, but she wasn't raised to have one. Remember, she was raised by the Amazons and by Wonder Woman, who might have only given her straight thoughts, that there is only good or bad, only black or white. But now, after her forced recruitment, I think that it would be something that she doesn't just forget that easily, especially the dark parts. Hence, it would be logical that she would have a lot of dark thoughts over the course of time, but she has no idea that that is normal, because she was never told that it was.**

**I thought I'd give a nod to Pitch's past as well, which is where this is heading. However, it isn't directly from the books, but rather, my own spin on it. I do not want to spoil anything for those who haven't read the books (neither have I), but looking up these characters was pretty fun, and I wanted to incorporate that into this story. It now actually feels like Pitch now has a strong solid cause.**

**I know I'm a terrible person for leaving it like this, but what can I say? Cliffhangers are my thing.**

**Please review.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Whoa! Two chapters in two days?**

**How can this be?**

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Chapter 24

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She forces her eyes open to see Jack standing there, pointing his staff at Pitch, his face the angriest she had ever seen. She was gripped with fear for his safety, and mustered up the strength.

"Jack…" she manages to get out. "Get out of here. Get…out…of…here!" After that, her strength disappears, replaced with a wave of exploding pain, leading her to scream.

Jack gritted his teeth at that scene. "Pitch!" he roared. "What did you do to her?"

Pitch simply sighs. "The last thing I needed was your interfering little presence here, Jack Frost." He growls. Then he turns to Klarion. "Could you please take care of our uninvited guest? I am in a delicate stage of the process and cannot be interrupted."

Klarion smiles, his hands lighting up with his characteristic red chaotic energy. "At last I get to have some fun."

He lunges at Jack, but Jack counters his advances with a blast of ice. As the backlash pushes both of them a little way away, Jack quickly gathers himself up and shoots a projectile of ice toward Klarion, who counters that with a blast of red chaos energy. It soon escalates into a flurry of ice and chaos energy going everywhere.

It only takes her a few, hazy seconds to realize that they were mirroring the fight that she had with Klarion not less than half an hour ago. She looks over at pitch, who has his eyes closed and arms open wide as the black energy began rising from the ground to wrap around his wrists. She had no idea what he was up to, but it seemed that he was draining her energy and channeling it. So, it seemed like whatever Jack had told her before was true. Pitch _was_ after her power.

But she didn't have time to think about it, as she was growing weaker and weaker, and the fighting was going nowhere. As she squirmed in pain, an idea began to form in her head on how to turn the tables. She knew Jack could very well handle Pitch; he had even told her that before, but he didn't seem to be having any luck with Klarion. And she understood why immediately. Jack was going too hard, too fast, and full head on. His fighting was unsynchronized, erratic, _chaotic_. And considering the fact that he was fighting a Lord of Chaos, it made sense to her why there seemed to be evenly matched. Jack was extremely powerful, no doubt about that, but his chaotic energy was feeding Klarion, giving him constant ammunition to use against the immortal teen.

Quickly checking that pitch was busy with…well, whatever he was doing, she took a deep breath and hoped that he'd be able to hear her. "Jack!"

Despite her voice coming out very quietly and strained, he heard her. Her voice cut through the red hot rage he had been feeling, like a dagger through flesh. It stopped him in his tracks, allowing him to get pushed back by the explosion that occurred just a couple of seconds later, throwing both parties back. As Klarion quickly turned to check on his cat, Jack turned to look at Skylar, tied up and getting the life drained out of her. Seeing her in that state brought forth another surge of anger, but she lifted her head and his eyes locked on hers.

"You're…doing it…wrong." She softly says, pain showing very evidently in her expression. "Just…giving him…more…ammo."

He was about to yell at her to not use up her energy so much, but then another thought crossed his mind. She knew how to battle Klarion better than he did, the same way he knew how to battle Pitch better than she did. He figured he had to trust her on this one. "Well, what should I do?" he asks, hoping that she could hear him just as well as he could hear her even through all the commotion going on.

"His…his cat." She got out. "It's…his familiar. His…connection to….this world." Stopping to take a few deep breaths, she once again raised her head to look at him. "Take…out…the…cat!"

She then slumps back into her prison, closing her eyes tightly and breathing heavily as more and more of her strength was drained out of her. Jack nodded, knowing just what he had to do.

He turned his eyes and fixed them on the cat, which seemed to glow with red energy as Klarion stroked it. Something clicks in his mind; that cat was also the source of his power! Or at least, it was his vessel. He was using his powers _through_ his cat. And before he stops to think just how messed up that really is, what Skylar says begins to make sense to him. If he had to take out that cat, he needed a solid game plan, and he just had one.

Just as Klarion stands up, he engages the lord of Chaos in another fight, only this time, his movements are slick, lithe and completely in synch with his thoughts. He watches Klarion's movements, analyzing his every flinch so that he could find out his weak spots. Once he finds a few, he begins to target them, keeping in mind to be light on his feet so as to avoid getting hit with Klarion's chaos energy. Very soon, it seemed like the battle had turned in his favor, with Klarion's energy blasts becoming less and less powerful, and his just growing. Klarion was quickly getting driven into a wall, and Jack was the one moving forward this time.

Soon finding himself being backed into a corner, Klarion attempts to use a different tactic, this time summoning his familiar to take care of Jack.

His cat grows in size and shape to turn into something like a giant sabre-tooth magic tiger. It snarls at him and leaps forward, but Jack had a plan ready, and only needed this tiny push to put it in action. As the cat lunged for his face, all claws and fangs, Jack quickly blasted it in the face with his ice, sending it flying and hitting the wall, causing a few more cracks to appear in the building and another rumble to go through the nearly collapsing structure. The cat, having taken quite a beating from one simple blast of ice, shrink back down to its original size, meowing in pain.

And of course, Klarion lets out a squeak and darts toward his precious cat, scooping it up in his arms. But Jack wasn't done yet.

As Klarion fusses over the cat, Jack points his staff at the cat from a distance. Charging up his ice beam, he wait for a few moments to get that power under control, and then shoots it.

The cat only just barely notices and meows to warn its owner before the blast of ice hits it (and him, mostly), prompting Klarion to quickly create a dimensional portal and get the hell out of that place.

Jack stands up straight, celebrating his victory for a few moments before another scream from Skylar draws his attention to the real problem at hand, and he rushes to help her.

However, as he reaches, he hesitates as the dark shadows between Pitch and Skylar begin to rise, slowly taking form. He stares, transfixed by the rising blackness. He turns to look at Skylar and sees that the black energy has completely covered her body, leaving her hands and feet and was slowly inching up onto her face. Her skin was starting to look really pale, her nerves and veins starting to show. Her eyes had long dark bags under them, only darkening as more and more of her life energy was drained. She had been bleeding from her mouth, letting blood run down and fall off from the underside of her chin. The blood was simply lost in the darkness that stood between Pitch and her.

Seeing that, he runs toward her, shouting her name in hopes that she would hear him. She opened her eyes, sunken into her skull and now a very, very dull blue, and turned them on him. "Jack?" she asks.

"Just hang tight!" he says. "I'll get you out of there in no time!"

"No."

That simple word stops him in his tracks, and his attention is once again brought to the rising blackness, now having taken a more solid form. To his surprise, it had taken up the form of a human girl, hardly in her preteens, from what he could guess from the shape and height. In fact, he realized as his eyes grew wider, the figure seemed to be about the same age as _his_ own sister (at least, when he last saw her in the flesh).

"Yes." Pitch says. He turns his head downward and looks at the still forming figure. "Come to me, my dear Emily. Come home to Daddy!"

"Daddy!?" Skylar just barely manages to get out.

Even though he had known for a while what Pitch's game was, he was still stunned. He didn't know what shocked him more; the fact that Pitch had a daughter or the fact that he was trying to recreate her using his (and Klarion's) dark powers.

Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense. Pitch was a dark lord, but he couldn't do much with just himself. He needed Klarion's chaos energy to make it a reality. And then, using Skylar's life force, he would resurrect his own daughter. Or maybe, resurrect was the wrong word. He was going to recreate his daughter from the forces of darkness that he presided over.

He could not let this happen.

He shoots his ice daggers, cutting through Skylar's bonds and making her drop to the floor, heaving and panting heavily. Pitch starts slightly, but then gives a small smile as he looks at Jack, who had run over to Skylar, getting down on the ground to help her up.

"You have poor timing." He tells Jack. "I have no need of her anymore, even though using her up fully would be better. I can just substitute one of my Nightmares to that task. But I will finish this ritual, and you will not stop me, Jack Frost!" He glares at Jack, seemingly about to make a move, but then apparently finding that he couldn't. He instead sends a flurry of dark energy in their direction, which Jack blocks by putting up an ice barrier.

Skylar had observed the last few of Pitch's movements intently as she fought to catch her breath and tried to form coherent thoughts amidst the excruciating pain she was feeling. As Jack tries to help her up along with defending her, something clicks in her mind, something that she had been wondering for a while, but had now understood it.

"It's the building." She whispered.

"Huh?" Jack asks, deflecting another dark energy blast. "Did you say something?"

"It's the building." She says again. "That's why he doesn't need me anymore. He's connected to the building's structure!"

Jack's eyes widen at her announcement. "Sky? I have absolutely no idea what you just said right there…"

"Go."

"What?" he staggers back slightly. But when he looks at her, her face is set with anger. She seemed to have a plan up her sleeve.

"Go." She repeated. "Get out of here and find your friends. I'll finish up here." She slowly gets to her knees.

"No way." Jack says. "No way in hell am I leaving you-"

"Just trust me!" She yelled out, causing him to stop mid-rant. "Just this once, Jack. I'm asking you to trust me on this." She raises her head, eyes full of determination, and looks at him. "_Please_ trust me on this, Jack."

The two share the look for a while, having a silent conversation. Then, Jack relents. "Fine." He says. "But if you don't come out of there, I'll come straight back in."

"You won't, trust me." She smiles at him.

He ponders over that as he quickly flies out of the window, leaving Skylar and Pitch alone. Pitch looks back to Skylar, who was still struggling to get up, and laughs.

"You think _you're_ going to be one to stop _me_?" he asks. "How thoroughly amusing. Just _what_ can you do?"

"I can do enough." She says through gritted teeth.

She pulls herself up on her feet just as Pitch unleashes his Nightmares onto her. She clenches her fist, and puts every last once of strength into it. Taking a few deep breath just before the Nightmares collide with her, she slams her fist into the floor of the building, making a large tremor shake the building thoroughly from the inside. The tremor even makes Pitch lose his concentration and his Nightmares dissipate into thin black sand.

But then his attention goes to the large crack emanating from the crater created around Skylar's fist. The crack makes its way through the floor and up the walls of the building, making everything begin to crumble and the building shuddered with the force of being hit by Wonder Girl's power.

Pitch gasped as tiles and cement pieces started to rain down upon them. "What have you done?"

Skylar gave one last smirk. "I just saved the day."

And that was when the entire building crumbled down upon them.

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**A/N: So, yeah…**

**Here's something; Jack wasn't originally going to be in the final fight at all. But I realized that I needed to get rid of Klarion somehow, and Jack hardly seemed the person to just sit outside while his friend was inside getting her ass kicked. And so, it also gave way to a whole array of interesting ideas to work with, which I wrote down on the spot.**

**I'm on a roll!**

**Please review.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Alright, this story's coming to an end in the next chapter.**

**But really hope you enjoyed this.**

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Chapter 25

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He arrives in time to see the entire building crumbling down to bits.

Tim, Cassie, Barbara, Zatanna and Alex stop behind him, all staring in shock at what just happened. But it only takes him a couple of seconds before he realizes exactly what just occurred, and rushes over to the wreckage. As he nears it, he notices Skylar's communicator lying on the ground, which he decides to ignore, despite his thoughts running astray as to what could have happened to her.

When he comes up close to the ruin, he notices another figure shifting through the rubble, struggling to lift the huge pieces of cement and steel. His eyes widen when he realizes just who it was. Yes, the color scheme was off, considering the fact that his hair was white and his skin was a pale off-white color. But he'd know that messy head of hair anywhere, whether brown or white. He would also know those ice blue eyes, now filled with despair and desperation, face scrunched up in an effort to lift a pretty big beam. He stops for a moment to survey the situation, and realizes one thing: he doesn't feel pain anymore.

He turns around to look at the rest of his Team, who have similar expressions of disbelief and confusion at their own awakenings. Alex, in particular, seemed pretty confused as well as crestfallen as he seemed to remember what all happened in the past couple of weeks. Dick began to formulate a theory based on this.

Either Skylar had succeeded, or something really bad must have happened to her.

He tries not to think about the latter, and puts all his faith and wishes into believing that she was okay. He runs over to Jack, who turns around to look at him.

"She was in there." He tells the older man.

Dick's eyes widen and he furiously starts to dig through the rubble, managing to lift the support beams more easily than Jack could. The boy in question, slowly slinked away to the side, knowing the Dick was well and ready to kill him, what with his heart full of dread and fear for his sister's safety. So, being the smart one, he decides to let Dick discover it by himself.

By what he can decipher, Skylar had figured out that Pitch was connected to the building, that he was using the building as an anchor and her as a power supply to bring his daughter back to life. In the most delicate stage of the operation, she had brought the building down, and hence severed its connection with Pitch. That had dissolved the entire ritual, as well as taking a huge chunk out of Pitch's power. This had forced Pitch, now tired and weak and low on power, to try and slink away from the fallen building, but only to be ambushed by the Four Guardians, who confronted him. And similar to the year before, Pitch's Nightmares turned on him, and dragged him into the shadows, into exile for hopefully a while.

Jack couldn't understand what could make her do such a thing, or maybe that was just his selfish mind talking. But right now, he really didn't want her to die.

Dick was practically going on instinct, pushing back the rubble and removing the support beams from exactly the right place. With every piece of cement he moved, his worry only increased, and his heart was filled with dread, imagining the worst. For all he knew, his sister was most probably dead. He would once again return to being the last living member of the Graysons. He would lose her once again, and this time because of his inability to get there in time. He would lose his last blood family member once again, only this time, she wouldn't be coming back.

_Please be alright,_ he desperately thought.

He repeated this over and over in his head as he shifted through the rubble, his worry growing with each passing second with no sign of her. He was getting more and more desperate as the minutes ticked by, with no sign of her body. He began to really fear the worst now, and his imagination took control, imagining gruesome and terrifying things happening to her.

He was the worst brother in the world right now.

He then shifts a large piece of rock away, and sees a hand.

Eyes widening behind his mask, he begins clearing the rubble all around the hand and its general vicinity. He soon clears enough of the rubble to see Skylar's body, broken and bloodied due to the building collapsing on top of her. She seemed almost motionless, and Dick was gripped with fear, before his training took over and he began to look for signs of life. To his great relief, he found that she was still breathing, albeit very slowly, almost nonexistent. Feeling his heart go numb, he reaches out and swipes some of the dirt away from her cheek before stroking it with the back of his fingers.

He lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding as relief floods every single part of his body when she softly hums in response to his touch. She forces open her eyes, very slowly and looks up at him. "Dick?"

"Don't worry." He says, wiping away more of the dirt from her face. "I'm here now."

He wraps his arms around her body and lifts her upper body close to his body, while holding on tightly to her bloodied hand.

"I…I…I can't feel anything." She whispers in a pained voice.

"I know." He whispers back to her, holding her close.

"I…feel numb." She says, and her eyes close as she falls limp in his arms.

Trying to control his raging emotions, Dick pulls her close, lifting her up slightly, turning her head toward his chest.

He hugs her body tightly, in no hurry to let go.

* * *

She opens her eyes, with much, much effort, might she add, to be faced with the sight of a white ceiling.

She knew that ceiling anywhere. She had seen it many times in her extremely short lifespan.

She was in the Cave's infirmary.

That is also when she becomes aware of the extreme ache in her head. No, in fact, in her entire body. She tries to move, but it only results in more and more pain, as she grunts herself into lifting her arm and head slightly. She then suddenly feels a hand on her chest, slowly pushing her back into a sleeping position.

She turns her head to see Dick sitting beside her bed, having enticed her into a sleeping position. He smiles at her. "Hey."

"Hey." She says back.

"How do you feel?" he asks her.

"In pain." She replies. "Seriously, did I get hit by a truck or something?"

"Not really." He answers. "You do remember everything that happened to you, don't you?"

She's hit with the flashbacks of rushing into an old crumbling building, fighting Pitch and Klarion, having Pitch suck her life out before Jack arrived to give her a helping hand. She remembers everything, ranging from Pitch's intentions, his powers over the night, her last conversation with Jack, and her last desperate action to protect the ones she loved from getting hurt even more by her. She clearly remembered the building crashing down on her, and then blacking out for a while. Her last memory was feeling her dear brother's touch before everything went black. She turns to Dick, the smile gone from her face.

"I remember everything." She says.

He gives a small chuckle. "That talk can wait." He says. "Right now, we'll just celebrate the fact that you're alive and that I can touch you again."

He squeezes her hand. "Ugh!" she groans as a wave of nausea hits her and she forces it down. "How long has it been?" she asks.

"You were out for two days, if that's what you're asking." He says.

"Where's Jack?" she mumbles, half in a trance.

"He's fine." He tells her. "You have a way of picking the most _interesting_ friends." She jumps and stares at him as he smirks at her. "You know?"

"You being out for two days gave us some time to talk." He says. "It's just like you to go off and steal the heart of a 300 year old immortal winter spirit."

"I've never done that before." She mumbles.

"You've done it now, haven't you?" he chuckles. "But that seriously explains a lot."

"Explains what?" she asks.

"Don't bother yourself with that." He tells her. "Just know that you're a lucky gal. He really cares about you, you know."

She smiles, leaning back against her pillow. "I think I do now."

He pats her calf. "Don't think I'm just going to let you grow up so fast." He says. "You're still my little sister, and if he thinks he can just get you to himself, he's wrong. He'll have to get through me first if he wants you."

She chuckles. Sharing a laugh with her, he then stands up. "I'd love to stay longer, but Batman wants a mission briefing immediately, and I'm pretty sure he'd like to know how you are right now. Plus we'll have to track Klarion down as quickly as we can; I've already sent a squad to dig up as much info as we can. And also, your friends are probably waiting to have a word or two with you."

He turns and heads out of the room, nodding to somebody and says a few words which she doesn't catch. In the few moments of peace she gets, she maneuvers herself into an erect position, leaning against her pillows. She then feels a wind, and chuckles as a blur stabilizes outside her door. A head of messy red hair then peeks in, and she suppresses the urge to laugh.

"Hey, Alex." She smiles. "Are you gonna stand out there all day?"

He steps into the room, slowly and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. She theorizes that it was probably the way he had treated her the past week or something, what with completely forgetting any sign of her existence. He walks in and sits on the chair beside her bed, paving the way for a five minute awkward silence. He doesn't make any move to talk or communicate, which she deems as unnatural for him, but who could blame him? She lay back against her pillow, giving him a look that said "take your time". If she wanted to see him talk, this would be the only way.

"Hey, um, I just wanted to say…" he begins, "What I meant to say was…um…Here's the thing…um…"

"No need to say anything." She tells him. "I know what it's all about."

"You do?" he asks. "Well then. That just makes me feel better. I guess this is my cue to say that I'm sorry."

"Why?" she asks. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I do." He replies. "I forgot my best friend in the whole world _completely_. And then I had to go and treat you like crap. I ignored you, and shut you out, and made no effort to reignite our friendship." He looks down. "Sorry just doesn't cut it. Especially when I found out what that had done to you."

"It did nothing." She says. "Who told you, anyway?"

"Jack." He simply answers. She opens her mouth to speak, but he cuts her off with his hand. "And before you say anything, he was the first person I apologized to, but he told me that he didn't need my apologies; you did. These two days were pretty stressful, you know that? But that gave the two of us plenty of time to sort out our situations." He looks up at her. "Jack's secret is safe with us, and he told me that the only reason he had been turned into a human was to protect the Team and to find out Pitch's plan. He was pretty crushed about not being able to protect you at first, but then I told him that that's just what you do."

She chuckles slightly. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Where? I'm not sure." He says. "We had a chat yesterday at school, but after that I never saw him. He didn't come to class today, and I didn't see him at school. I went over to his house and there was no one there."

She heaves a big sigh. "Then I guess this is it, huh?" she asks. "He really left?"

Alex shrugs. "Sure looks like it, but I'm not too sure."

"Any reason?" she asks.

"Yeah, something he told me yesterday." He says. "He told me that even though he was forced to come here, now he didn't want to leave." He smiles at his best friend. "Have some faith in him. Don't you believe in Jack Frost?"

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's that. **

**What are your views on this? Do you want Jack to come back? Do you want him to leave? I'd love to hear your views on this.**

**(Even though I'm already writing the next part)**

**Please leave a review.**


	26. Chapter 26: Epilogue

**A/N: And yes, people, this is our last chapter of the story, and our epilogue. **

**Hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.**

* * *

Chapter 26  
Epilogue

* * *

What with all the commotion and fuss going on, she had almost forgotten that the Winter Formal was right around the corner. Like, literally.

She had spent two more days in the infirmary as their best medics healed her badly broken bones using their advanced technology and means. And then she had a few days of physiotherapy, in which she needed to get the basic blood circulation back into her limbs. During this time, she had also resumed school, though she was still off missions until her strength was back. She hadn't realized just how much she missed school until she returned to it. Her next few days consisted of juggling school, getting updated on her assignments and training with Nightwing. It was almost a breath of relief getting back to her normal life. Well, as normal as it could get.

Dick had forced her into taking private sessions with him at the Mountain. Of course, just because she was recovering, didn't mean that he was going to go easier on her. In fact, he was just pushing her harder, giving her a harder training regimen than the rest of the Team, and making her stay back for "advanced training".

"We need you in top shape as soon as possible." He always tells her. "And the only way to get back your previous coordination is with training."

Her days mostly consisted of going to school till the afternoon, coming back to work on her assignments, and then heading to the Mountain for training. Every night, she would hit the bed, too tired to dream, almost like the way it was back on Paradise Island. It almost became a routine for a week and a half, after which Dick pronounced her fit to get back on missions, and she also found out that she had caught up with all her classes, and was right on the level of the class. She had been seriously elated that day on the prospect of getting to sleep an extra couple of hours. And mostly on the prospect of getting to dream again.

It was then that she had realized, from the posters set on the notice board, that the dance was literally three days away.

Cassie seemed pretty psyched about it, even though she wasn't going to be the one who was going to the dance in the first place. Apparently, the fact that this would be Skylar's first dance was really entertaining. And according to her "we already bought the dress. Would be a shame to let it go to waste." And hence, began another three days of torture as Cassie sent her to the spa, the salon and other such places she had no idea even existed. Dick had bemusedly put up with all her complaining at whatever Cassie was making her endure, and Tim had taken it upon himself to crack jokes about it all the time, which may or may not have led to some really unwanted thoughts of how satisfying it would be to punch him in the face.

She could expect no sympathy from Alex's side as well, as he himself was scrambling around, doing last minute preparations for the setup, as well as finding clothes that would look nice on him, and finding a date. He seemed so hung up over it that she had to laugh, even though he pretended to be offended for the rest of the day.

That set her thinking about their missing friend.

She had been highly aware of his absence ever since the day she returned to school and saw his empty seat during lunch. She had missed him during her time in the infirmary, and when she wasn't preoccupied, her thoughts would all revolve around him. She realized that she missed him terribly. And she had no idea why.

She thought that she missed him because now that things were going back to normal, she maybe desired for both her best friends by her side. He had become a part of her life, despite their relatively short time together.

She couldn't handle the thought that he had really left.

She kept going over her last conversation with him. _"Trust me,"_ she had told him. In hindsight, she kicks herself for it. That sounded so lame to her right now. Why couldn't she have thought of a better thing to say to him? Granted, she didn't know that it was the last time she would ever see him, but still…she should have said something better. Or rather, she should have at least gone with the heat of the moment and kissed him, and then deal with the consequences. Yeah, she should have pulled him in for a kiss, and then said something like, "Believe in me." Yeah, that sounded good. She could see that situation having played out in so many different ways, each one better than the last. If she had gone through with at least one of them, she would have better memory of her last meeting with him. If she had done at least one of them, he would have something to remember her by.

That had become a fear for her; what if he had forgotten her? She doubted she would forget him, but what with him being _immortal_, maybe she wasn't the only girl on his mind?

She realized that she didn't want to be forgotten.

With the days leading up to the dance, when she had less of a workload on her head, that was when she missed him the most. At the end of the day, he was her friend. She missed having his outgoing and fun-loving presence around. She missed his pranks and jokes.

She missed him so much it hurt.

His absence was even felt by Alex, who was pretty unhappy about losing an amazing guy friend. It seemed like there was a lot of boy-specific talk which she couldn't do with Skylar, but even he was starting to miss Jack's presence. His very presence had brightened up the room and caused a smile on their faces. He was usually the one to start a snowball fight. He was also usually the one who'd come bearing some random joke or fact which they wouldn't understand, hence causing all three of them to laugh at the ensuing awkwardness. Yep, Jack's presence was being heavily missed by both parties, and for good reason.

Moving on was going to be hard, but she told herself that she'd do it.

The night of the dance saw her dressed up in the blue dress that Cassie had bought for her, matching that with a pair of light blue ankle strap heels that were easy to walk in. Along with that, she also wore a simple chain with a dark blue pendant and earrings with blue feathers. The navy blue thin scarf wrapped around her neck was of her own addition, since one large scar on her neck hadn't been leaving and required a scarf to cover up for the dance. Plus, she felt that it enhanced the look of the dress, which Cassie agreed with. She chose to wear her hair down, choosing to not style it or do anything fancy with it, letting it fall in loose waves around her shoulders. The only thing she wore on her head was a blue headband that left her bangs out. She had opted for little makeup, wanting nothing more than a light eyeliner and lip gloss.

Although what she had done seemed pretty pale as compared to what some of the other girls had done, going to great lengths to not do anything useful to their looks, ranging from complicated, expensive dresses to equally complicated makeup and hair. This made her roll her eyes at the lengths her fellow students would go to. And then there were those who put no effort into how they looked, looking as if they had just gotten out of bed. She admired them, but her personal preference was putting in a little effort into looking neat and nice.

She stands beside the refreshment bar, sipping on some punch as she watches the kids getting it down on the floor. While she herself had no qualms about dancing (thanks to Jack), she wasn't ready to unlearn what all she had learnt to replace it with something completely new.

"You doing okay?"

She turns her head to see Alex sidling up to her. She could admit, he had cleaned up pretty nicely. He was dressed in a white shirt with dark grey pants and a dark grey blazer, with a steel grey tie. The tie somehow enhanced his red hair, making him look older. The suit also went really well with his lean but fit physique, making him a really good sight for the eyes. Even for the dance, he had left his hair in a messy manner, letting the disheveled mess work its magic. She mused about how different he looked, so far from the normal awkward teen he was during normal times, and much more like a grown up man.

And she certainly wasn't the only one who had noticed. Ever since he had stepped into the gym, more than a few girls, even the ones who had arrived with a date, had cast at least one look in his general direction. She couldn't blame them. And she felt a strange sense of pride watching him look so…so…_grown up_.

She nods in answer to his question. "Yeah, I'm fine." She tells him. "How about you? Enjoying the dance?"

He smiles. "Actually, a lot." He says. "Quite a few girls have asked me for a dance. Who wouldn't enjoy that?"

She smirks. "Keep this up and you'll have quite a few angry boyfriends on your tail." She points out. "They'll probably be pretty pissed off with you stealing their girlfriends away."

He chuckles. "Hey, what can I say?" he asks, putting his arms out in a mocking display. "Nothing suits me like a suit."

"You know what would suit you?" she asks. "A smaller ego."

"Don't try to deny that you love me."

The two share a laugh and she finishes her punch, placing the empty glass on the table. She eyes the rest of the punch filled glasses, and Alex watches her reach out for another glass. "Hey, would you like to have another dance?" he asks her.

She shakes her head. "You've danced with me more than I could ask for." Over the course of the two hours she had been here, she had stayed beside the refreshment bar. Alex had no doubt seen this, and had pulled her onto the dance floor at least five times in the past hour and an additional five times for the previous hour, not caring about the song, whether it was a slow jam or a dance number. While she had mockingly protested, she felt grateful for him for being such an amazing friend, and for not letting her stay beside the punch for the whole night. She felt thankful that he was her friend, but felt like she taking up too much of his own thunder. The guy had dressed up and was looking smashingly gorgeous; he could spend his time dancing with a wide array of girls and not be tied down with his average looking best friend.

"So, that's a no, then?" he asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Thank you, Alex." She says. "But I'm pretty sure there's another girl on that floor that you actually want to dance with."

"Who said I didn't want to dance with you?"

She avoids his eyes for a moment before looking back at him. "It's easy for you to be so free with the compliments, but I'm not your date for the evening. You've given me more than enough dances for the whole night, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. But I think it's time for you to have the next dances for the night with a potential partner." She gestured with her head to the few girls who had stolen a few glances at Alex. "Seems you have a few applications, Mr. West." She chuckled.

He chuckled slightly, but then his face went back to his grim expression. "I just don't feel right leaving you here alone."

"You're not." She says. "I'll find companionship soon."

"You better." He says. "Or I'm taking you on that dance floor and we're not leaving until the night is over."

She smiles at him. "Thank you, Alex." She tells him. "But it's your turn to enjoy this night."

He looks ready for a retort, but then a pretty girl, with about as minimal makeup as Skylar herself with gorgeous caramel blonde hair, wearing a simple and elegant light cream sleeveless dress with a skirt that reached her mid-thigh, passed by. Instantly, Alex stops with his mouth open, staring after her and struggling to get his words out. She then turns around and gives him a small wink as she walks into the crowd.

Skylar turns back to look at her best friend, who has the most priceless expression ever, and it makes her attempt to hold in her laughter as he gets shaken out of his trance.

"Alright." He says, looking at her. "You better be fine tonight." He looks up to catch another glimpse of the girl. "Be careful and have fun."

Saying so, he pats her on the shoulder and makes his way into the crowd. She watches him disappear and then sighs, downing her drink and getting another glass, seriously considering checking out the snack bar at the other end of the room to see if there was anything worth eating, or if all the good stuff was already gone. She then decides to have just _one_ more glass of punch before going over to the other side.

Just before she finishes her tenth (?) glass of the night, she hears a few nearby girls chattering away about something. She rolls her eyes, thinking that it was nothing, when she turns her head and then staggers.

He was standing there, or rather making his way slowly through the crowd. He was dressed in a stark black suit, complete with black pants and a black blazer over a white shirt with a black tie. Surprisingly, the color really went well with his tan complexion and rich brown hair. Like Alex, he hadn't bothered to really try to tame his wild messy brown hair, leaving it just as she remembered it. His eyes remained the icy blue she had gotten so used to seeing. The suit fit his lean physique extremely well, she had to admit, making him look especially appetizing, and simply just accentuating his already handsome features. His smile was not helping things, just making him look that much sexier. Okay, she was running out of adjectives to describe him.

A few girls were already going after him, and she noticed that they were of the popular group, the very girls who had made so much fun of her when she first transferred last year. They draped themselves on his arms, purring and flirting with him so much that it honestly made her sick to her stomach. They had hardly glanced at him throughout the school year, and now suddenly he was the object of their affections? Just because he had come up looking super _nice_? It was so wrong on so many levels that she had to turn away from staring at him for a while to pretend as if she were putting her cup away.

When she looks up however, she finds herself face to face with him, and she sucks in a breath, because, well…

"Hey."

She forces a smile as his entire presence, not just his scent (which smelt like heaven, by the way), engulfs her entirely. Just having him standing so close was giving her a hard time, considering the fact that she realized that in no way at all did she ever move on. That was one thing, and now he had to come in looking so damn gorgeous…it made her legs feel kinda like jelly.

She still manages to form a sentence in her head. "Hey." She says, mentally kicking herself for not putting more effort into thinking up a better sentence.

He then smiles his devilish smile, making her feel a whole round of emotions that she had never felt before. "I realize we haven't been introduced properly." He says and he holds out his hand. "Jack Overland. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly."

She stares at his hand for a moment while her scrambled mind puts together just what was going on. It takes her a few seconds to realize that he was saying the same words he had said to her the first time they had been officially introduced. It was a moment she dearly remembered; after all, it was the time she had finally met the one person who would capture her heart in such a way. She also realizes what he's trying to say, what with his hand stretched out like that and with the same introduction he had used when they first met. He was asking her for a fresh start, a clean slate, a new way to take their relationship.

She wasn't so sure what to say to that. Was she willing to really start over and maybe become serious with him? Was she ready to risk giving her heart to someone else, and risk them not handling it with enough care? Was she ready for that kind of emotional instability, where she thought with her heart instead of her head?

Then she recalled what she would always tell him when he would try to bring up the topic of their relationship. _"Let's not worry about it and just enjoy our time together."_

She decides to take the plunge.

She holds out her hand. "Skylar Grayson. The pleasure's all mine."

He smiles so widely you'd think that she had just handed him a Grammy or something. She musters up the courage to ask him, finally. "Jack, what-"

He cuts her off before she can say anything, and then she realizes why. Over on the dance floor, back in reality she tells herself, the first few bars of Lifehouse's "You and Me" were staring to play, signaling the start of another slow dance. She closes her eyes and listens as the band's lead singer starts to sing the first couple of lines of the song.

"_What day is it, and in what month? This clock never seemed so alive…"_

Jack holds his hand out to her in perfect gentlemanly fashion. "Would you like to dance with me?"

She nods, putting her hand in his. "Definitely."

She doesn't miss the glares and stares from the popular girls who had been trying to get Jack's attention less than five minutes ago. She fights the urge to turn back and smirk at them, and instead focuses on the guy leading her into a good place on the dance floor. As they go forward, she looks around, and finds Alex, dancing with the blonde he had gone after. The redhead made eye contact with her, and then saw who was leading her onto the gym floor. His mouth drops open for a second and he mouth the question "Is that…?" in her direction. She can't help but get a wide smile on her face as she mouths back "I'll tell you later."

Finding a clearing amongst the mass of bodies, Jack then turns to face her, and she becomes very aware of the fact that he was at least a head taller than her. But then he slowly pulls her toward him, and she feels like he was doing it on purpose, giving her a sense of security. She has a flashback to the Winter Festival, when he had guided her the same way. But this time, she seemed to instinctively know what to do, so he wouldn't have to be her coach all over again. She sees his hands going to her arms, so as to guide her, but then she moved them of her accord, putting them around his neck and bringing herself closer to him. Smiling, he then puts his hand on her hips, not putting too much pressure, yet still holding them in place.

"Follow my lead." He whispers to her.

She nods as he slowly guides them in tune to the music, bringing his head down so that they were touching foreheads. That intimate gesture itself seemed to tell her everything she wanted to know about his feelings. Looked like Dick was right; separation just intensified feelings. Spending a week and a half without his company had left her starved for his companionship. And now he was here, but she had no idea for how much longer. Should she just consume as much of him as she could? Or should she take it as slow as he was taking it with her? Should she let time decide, or should she be the judge?

He gives a small laugh. "I can hear the wheels spinning in your head, Skylar." He says. "You probably have a lot to ask me. Well, shoot."

It seemed that that was all she needed. She felt herself relax as she begins to start going through the hundreds and hundreds of questions rolling through her mind. She finally settles on one. Well, it wasn't exactly a question, more of what she had thought. As she waited for a few more moments, her urge to open her mouth grew. She _needed_ to say it. She _needed_ to see what he would say. She needed to know whether this was the last time she would ever see him.

"I…I thought you left." She says, finding her voice choked up.

He takes a deep breath. "I know." He softly says. "I'm sorry. I was supposed to leave originally." He tells her. "But then I realized that I couldn't leave."

"Why?" she asks, keeping her voice low so that only he could hear her.

"Because of you and Alex." He says. "The two of you made me feel human after almost 300 years. I never knew how much I missed being a human, until I met you two. And after everything…well, I just couldn't leave." He looks up at her. "I realized that what I most wanted was to be human again, even if it was for a short time."

"So, what did you do?" she asks.

"I went to the Man in the Moon." He says. "I asked him to make me human again, for a short while. I wanted to experience life. I wanted to regain that feeling of being alive."

"And…?"

"He surprised me." She raises her eyebrow. "Apparently, the reason he sent me down to you guys was to _feel_ human again. He had been counting on me asking him to make me human again." He pauses to take a breath and she patiently waits for him. "He's given me a temporary life. I can be human for a short period of time, sometime till my late twenties or mid-thirties, I'm not sure. But that was more than I had expected."

She fights to put down the emotions threatening to clog up her throat. "So now…"

"I'm here to stay." He tells her. "At least for a while."

She doesn't resist the smile that pulls at the corners of her lips after that. "Wait…can you still-"

"-be Jack Frost?" he completes. "Yeah. I can switch between my winter spirit and human personalities. If I have to work with snow, then I'll have to be Jack Frost. However, my human body will still age up just like everybody else's."

"So…" she pauses for a moment, looking down to hide her enormous smile. "What does this mean? For us, I mean? Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." He says. "But I do know one thing; thinking too much about it could leave us in a very awkward position." She blushes when she realizes that he was quoting something she had once told him. "So, I suggest we don't think about it, and just simply take it as it comes."

She laughs, and feels a sense of relief settle in her heart. Despite all the questions rolling around, the questions that needed to be asked and the things that needed talking about, she got the sense that somehow, everything would work out just fine. Somehow, they would all be alright.

They continue to dance to the song's chorus, which she sings to herself in her head. _"Cause it's you and me, and all of the people and I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you…"_

She begins to feel his icy blue gaze on her, and even though she had caught him doing that so many times, she still couldn't get used to it. She notices that his gazes have been getting bolder. Before, she would find him accidentally staring at her, quite innocent, actually. But now, his gazes seemed to stare into her very being, and she felt like she was being stripped down, all her secrets and thoughts out in the open. She felt like she was completely exposed in his eyes.

"You're staring." She points out.

"I know." He says.

She doesn't know why, but she suddenly feels the urge to do something. So, she leans up and embraces him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He complies with a soft smile, pulling her close and they simply hold each other, reveling in the presence, company and comfort of the other. For her, this was the best thing. She had never felt so secure in her whole life.

"Will you always be there?" she asks him.

"Yes." He says. "I'll always be there, even if you can't see me. I promise; I'll be your Guardian Angel."

She finally lets the tears she had been holding back fall, and she tucks her face into the crook of his neck, feeling so happy to finally let it out. She felt so happy and so contended. She wished this would never end.

"_What day is it, and in what month? This clock never seemed so alive."_

* * *

**A/N: Yep, extra-long epilogue, because I felt like you guys deserved it (and also because I was too lazy to split it up into two more chapters). In a previous chapter, I had made a mention to the school dance, and it might not seem so important, but it is an important part of the story; the time when Jack and Skylar finally reconnect. Writing this was the best part of the entire thing, because I had this very scene in my mind when I had begun to write this story. And now, here you have it, finally!**

**This isn't going to be the end of Jack and Skylar's story, because I have a sequel in mind. Even though in this scenario I don't really do sequels (when the story seems to be over), but this idea has been gnawing at me for days and I've begun to put it down. It can just be seen as another story in their life, mainly because I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with these two characters. I will do my best to make the sequel seem like a, well, like a sequel. Like a continuation of the story, rather than a forced entry to squeeze out some more views or reviews. And just so you're prepared, the next story will pick up on elements from the Guardians of Childhood books. **

**Hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I had writing it.**

**Please leave a review if you liked it.**


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